Election Day
by Killergoose
Summary: It's Yang versus Weiss in the Beacon Academy Election to become Student Council President. Post Volume 2 AU.
1. First Clash

Yang looked towards the clock in the room with dreary eyes as she began to filter out the talking around her. There were still 30 minutes left of the council meeting, 30 minutes until freedom and the opportunity to do something actually enjoyable. It was times like this where she regretted letting Weiss talk her into joining the council, sure there was free food at the meetings as Weiss said and Weiss did in fact help her with some assignments like she also promised. However, what the heiress didn't mention that these meetings would be this mind-numbingly monotonous and that all she really wanted from Yang was her support in any idea she had, regardless of Yang's actual opinion on the matter. It had only been about a month into Yang's 3rd year, but these twice-a-week council meetings where all Yang was expected to do was sit in silence, listen and sometimes say "I agree with Weiss," or "we should remember what Weiss mentioned earlier," or "Weiss brings up a good point," meant this year was already shaping up to be a snooze-fest. Weiss also didn't tell Yang that she actually asked Ruby and Blake to join the council before finally asking her. Ruby declined stating she would find it boring and Blake wanted nothing to do with the student council. Yang recalls their reactions when they found out Weiss persuaded her to join:

"You actually joined?" Blake asked, her tone a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"Yeah, I figured it'd be something different." Yang tried to defend herself.

"I don't know, Yang. There's not much variety to sitting silently in a room for an hour." Ruby retorted also appearing amused by her older sister's decision.

"Aw, come on, how bad can it be?" Yang replied.

All Ruby and Blake did in response was share a knowing look with one another.

"Yang!"

Yang's moment of reminiscing was interrupted by the person responsible for her current feeling of tedium, staring at her intensely with her steely blue eyes.

"Huh? ... Oh, sorry, I guess I was kind of distracted." Yang answered nonchalantly.

"Do you even know what we were talking about for the last 10 minutes?" Weiss interrogated, her face still looking at Yang with a fierce expression.

"It... Er..." Yang quickly looked around the room; all other council members besides the one questioning her seemed to be sharing her feeling towards their current situation- a state of complete apathy but this did not tell Yang what they were talking about. "It was something to do with food?" Yang guessed.

"No, Yang." Weiss answered flatly. "The health and safety concerns in the science laboratories have not got something to do with food unless you inadvertently eat some of the chemicals there which wouldn't surprise me because you don't seem to be able to pay attention to anything!"Weiss was now positively fuming.

"Hey that's not fair! I can pay attention to things." Yang finally found some energy and enthusiasm to her voice though it did not seem to affect any of the other council members; everyone maintained their uncaring expression except of course Weiss.

"Oh give me a break!" Weiss snorted. "You don't commit to anything before getting tired then moving on to something else whether it's this council, assignments or even in the middle of fights you seem to lose interest."

"Shut up." Yang stated bluntly now almost seething.

"Why should I? Is it just because you can't think of something you have actually spent a significant time caring about besides your hair?" Weiss now had an arrogant smirk on her face.

Yang stood up from her chair, now furiously staring back at her accuser. Weiss simply maintained her smug look. Unable to think of something to say, Yang let out a loud groan and sat back down in her chair. Weiss' smirk went wider upon seeing this before resuming the prior discussion:

"Now, as I was saying..."

Yang returned to tuning out the conversation around her though this time her thoughts were filled with frustration for the rest of the meeting. Upon the end of the council meeting, Yang immediately stood up and left the room, not bothering to wait for Weiss. Quickly walking back to the dorm with a large frown on her face, Yang entered her team's room before slamming the door shut, climbing up to her bed then lying down with a notable thud.

"So you had another fun-filled council meeting?" Ruby joked.

"Don't want to talk about it."

"I don't get why you don't just quit the council." Blake suggested.

"I need to give a reason to the staff for why I quit." Yang explained. "I don't think 'I find the meetings boring and my teammate there is infuriating' is a good reason plus Weiss is already angry enough with me as it is, I'm not sure if quitting and not fulfilling my part of the deal would be the best idea right now."

"Sure, but you can't keep this up for the rest of the year. Sooner or later, one of you is going to need to do something" Blake replied with some concern. "It's not good for you, Weiss or our team." Ruby simply nodded in agreement.

Yang let out a groan before finally admitting: "You're right. I'll talk to Weiss about it tomorrow; it should give us enough time to cool down."

Only a few moments later, Weiss entered the room as Ruby's face noticeably brightened upon seeing her partner. "Hey, Weiss. How did the council meeting go?"

"Hi, Ruby." Weiss returned the greeting politely enough though her tone quickly shifted: "The meeting went alright although someone wasn't paying attention like usual."

All Yang did was roll her eyes in response. _Just stay calm_ Yang thought to herself. _We're both at fault in this; just talk to her about it tomorrow then everything will be fine._ Yang proceeded to keep telling this to herself throughout the rest of the evening as Team RWBY went about their typical activities of working on assignments, reading, lecturing someone on how to do things and being lectured by someone else on how to do things.

After a good night's sleep and going through the usual morning routine, Yang approached Weiss just before the beginning of morning classes:

"Weiss, can we talk?" Yang calmly asked.

"Sure."

"Listen about what happened at the council meeting. I—"

"Don't worry about it." Weiss interrupted.

"Huh?"

"You made a mistake and let things go to your head. It's okay; just try not to do it again."

"What?!" Yang yelled as Blake and Ruby awkwardly looked on in silence on the other side of the room. "You think it's all my fault?!" Yang felt her stress caused from yesterday's incident suddenly come flooding back to her.

"Well, it is. You're the one who didn't listen at the meeting, you're the one who shouted at me and you're the one who caused a scene at the meeting yesterday just like you're doing right now." Weiss surmised keeping a neutral expression on her face the whole time.

"You yelled at me first in the meeting!" Yang exclaimed.

"For good reason." Weiss countered. "You were not doing a single productive thing there and were unable to admit your own faults."

Yang looked at Weiss, her eyes wide and in utter disbelief from Weiss' last few words before bitterly saying: "I can't deal with this right now. Later." Yang stormed out of the room, deciding to make her way to class early.

Weiss turned to her other 2 teammates left in the room. Ruby sported a look of misery on her face, simply melancholic that this argument took place while Blake was giving the heiress a nasty glare.

"What?" Weiss asked defensively.

Blake did not give a verbal reply; she simply picked up her bag and left the room heading towards the same classroom as Yang. Spotting her partner alone in the classroom slouched in her chair; Blake smiled and sat down beside her.

Yang turned to face her partner. "How can she be so narrow-minded?"

"I'm not sure." Blake confessed. "Maybe she's going through a stressful situation as well, we just don't know about it."

"Maybe."

"I mean, you do have a tendency to get mad at people." Blake teased.

"Hey!" Yang sounded slightly offended though she was well aware her partner's statement was in jest.

"It is a part of your Semblance, Yang so it's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, out of the people we hang out with from the academy, the only person who I don't recall you ever getting that mad at is me." Blake said after some brief reflection.

"I could never stay mad at you for long, Blake." Yang quickly replied.

Blake suddenly felt the temperature in her cheeks rise along with the need to not look directly at her partner. After taking a second to regain a bit of composure, Blake tried to find a way to settle things: "Anyway, just try to forget about it, okay? I know what Weiss did wasn't right and she was a jerk but if we bring it up anymore it'll just cause more problems."

Yang carefully considered her options along with Blake's words then sighed. "Okay."

The argument with Weiss was not mentioned for the rest of the morning class as Yang once again began to feel her stress subside. With the class ending, Yang gathered her things along with Blake as they started to walk towards the main hall of the academy for the weekly assembly.

"Oh." Yang remembered. "I forgot to say it earlier but thanks for the advice."

Blake smiled. "Anytime, Yang."

Now returning Blake's smile and feeling her heart beat a little faster, Yang sat in one of the back rows of chairs next to Blake as they both watched other students begin to enter the hall.

Professor Glynda Goodwitch stood on the stage at the front of the hall waiting for all the students to sit down and finish their conversations before she began her speech:

"Good morning, students. I trust you have had enough time to settle back into things. While it is still only the start of the year, this does not make it any less important to remain focused and give one's full effort on their studies. This new year will be difficult but it will also present you all with a fresh start and more opportunities. Speaking of which, I would like to remind all 3rd and 4th year student council members that the form to sign up to run for Student Council President will be open from this morning to six days from now on Monday the 7th of October at 6pm. The members in the running will be announced during next week's assembly. If multiple people enter the running then the candidates will have one month to campaign and convince you all why you should vote for them as Student Council President. The voting polls for Student Council President will be open on Thursday November 7th from 9am-5pm. The winner will be announced the following day. Should only one student council member enter the running then that person will be announced as Student Council President in next week's assembly."

"What happens if no one signs up?!" A foolhardy student shouted from the crowd earning a few chuckles from his peers.

Ignoring this, Goodwitch continued with her speech hoping there would be no more rude interruptions.

After listening to another standard, not terribly interesting assembly, Yang began to make her way to her second class of the day but not without spotting a certain white-dressed teammate standing by a small desk next to a sign that read: "Student Council President Sign-Up Form". The heiress quickly wrote her name down on the previously blank form. Turning to face Yang's direction, Weiss' eyes narrowed and a devious smile formed on her face.

 _Crap_.

Yang's positive attitude she just established from her earlier class had all but crumbled with the realisation that Weiss' extremely arrogant and insufferable behaviour towards her might not just be a temporary thing to deal with anymore but something she may have to cope with for the next two years.

 _Wait, just calm down. I don't know for sure if Weiss' arrogant attitude will stay as bad as it has been. Let's not jump to conclusions._

Yang continued to tell herself this throughout her next class and as she made her way to the lunch hall. Yang scanned the room, unable to find her friends among the large crowd until she was a white sleeve and pale hand rise above the crowd of heads.

"Hey, Yang! We're over here." Weiss called out. Yang made her way over to her friends. "I saved you a seat." The heiress added with an extra level of cheerfulness in her voice.

Yang smiled at Weiss' thoughtful act before taking the seat saved for her. _See, I had nothing to worry about. Things are going to be—_

"I was just mentioning how I'm looking forward to becoming Student Council President since it means people will actually have to listen to me."

 _Okay, it's worse._ Yang's smile slowly faded as she attempted to listen to but eventually filtered out Weiss' least subtle act of passive-aggression yet. _Maybe she just needs a day to get this out of her system. She'll be bragging less about it tomorrow._

Yang tried to convince herself of this possibility throughout the rest of the day while at the same time trying to avoid any of Weiss' smug activities. After a long day of assignments, training and internal debate on what to do about this, it had finally reached an appropriate time to get some shut eye. It appeared the rest of the team had long days too as they all settled into bed for an early sleep as well.

"Good night." Yang called out.

"Good night." Ruby and Blake replied simultaneously.

"Good night, fellow students." Weiss replied gracefully.

Yang gritted her teeth. _Just give it to tomorrow. She won't be as bad tomorrow._ Yang quietly sighed then eventually managed to get some sleep.

As the rays of sunlight made their way through the room's window, Yang let out a long yawn as she stretched and started to prepare for a new day. Yang was not given much time to think this over until she heard a familiar voice which has been the cause of much stress for the blonde brawler lately. Yang quickly turned her head to the direction of the voice to find Weiss talking to a mirror.

"Thank you for electing me as Student Council President. I'd also like to take the time to congratulate the other candidates on their campaigns although they were clearly inferior to my own campaign, they were admirable efforts nonetheless."

Yang buried her hands in her face. _Okay maybe it'll take a few more days._

These last few scraps of hopeful thoughts Yang had did not prove to be correct as Weiss' ego only seemed to inflate further as the days progressed:

"No one else has even signed up to be in the running yet. I suppose the other council members think they don't have what it takes to fairly represent and be an inspirational figure for all students in the academy and in many cases I would agree with them."

By Monday, the ego of the heiress reached unfathomable scales, if it was to be represented in physical form Yang is certain it would easily overshadow the entire academy itself and even rival the size of some of the tallest mountains in all of Remnant. It appeared the rest of her teammates and friends were also using the same method as Yang in dealing with Weiss- don't call her out on her attitude because that will only lead to a heated argument and just hope her attitude gradually goes down over time. This tactic did not appear to be working:

"Now that I really think about it, I don't blame the other council members for not signing up; they would only be constantly embarrassed by facing me in the election." Weiss boasted to the rest of her friends at the food hall who all just continued to eat their lunches. While Yang maintained her apathetic expression, it was at this point that she decided that the time for sitting idly by was over, something needed to be done. Mulling over potential ideas during her afternoon classes, Yang failed to find a plan for payback which felt right:

 _I could hide all her clothes and assignments somewhere in the academy. No, that wouldn't work, she could probably buy and have all her new clothes delivered to her the next day with the amount of Lien she has. She also probably has dozens of backups for her assignments and if I get caught then that'll just drive the team further apart._

 _I could just quit the council. No, that'd screw me over more than anyone else at this point and it would just confirm her belief that I can't commit to anything._

 _Ooh, I could tell people what happened on May 24th. Nah, that's probably a bit too far._

Yang exited the academy gym, worn out from another long, tiring council meeting followed by another intense training session. The brawler started making her way back to her dorm but suddenly halted in her tracks as she once again caught sight of the sign-up form below the clock on the wall displaying the time as 5:55pm. Next to the form sat a bored 1st year student who Yang could only assume was there to collect the form as soon as it reached 6pm, fitting in with the Beacon staff's absurd level of importance they place on giving in assignments before deadlines. There was still only one name on the form. Yang sighed.

 _It looks like I'll be stuck with President Schnee for the next year or two._

Yang was honestly a little surprised Weiss wasn't there herself eagerly counting down the seconds on the clock then finally doing some celebratory dance as it reached 6pm. In fact, Yang had quite a vivid picture of Weiss jumping up and down with glee until a new idea suddenly entered her head.

 _Wait—_ _No I can't, that'd be insane. I don't know anything about running a council and I'd just embarrass myself in the election._

Yang paused for a brief moment.

 _Well I could risk embarrassing myself for a chance to get some payback or I can do nothing and ensure Weiss gets her way and stays like this for the rest of my time at the academy._

Her mind made up, Yang quickly looked at the clock again now showing the time to be 5:57pm and walked on over to the desk with the form on. Now recognising the 1st year student to be a member of the council, Yang quickly signed her name on the form then turned around and resumed making her way towards her dorm before hearing the student call out to her:

"Of all the people who could sign up, you were probably the person I least expected." The student confessed.

Not slowing down her pace, Yang turned her head slightly and called back: "Someone made a mistake."


	2. Taking Sides

Weiss sat among the front row of chairs with a broad smile on her face and positively giddy with excitement as she waited for the assembly to begin. This was it. This was her moment. She had been planning on running for Student Council President ever since she first joined Beacon and now she was going to be announced as president in front of all the students in the academy. Taking a deep breath, the heiress began reciting her acceptance speech repeatedly in her head.

 _Good morning, fellow students of Beacon, As— No, wait; I should thank Professor Goodwitch first._

 _Thank you, Professor Goodwitch. Good morning, fellow— Hmm, I use 'good' too much at the start there._

 _Thank you, Professor Goodwitch. Greetings: fellow students of Beacon. As your new Student Council President, I promise to help give you all the best possible experience at this academy as we prepare to become Huntresses and Huntsmen. I plan—_

Weiss cut off her own internal speech upon seeing Professor Goodwitch now on stage about to speak. Weiss' heart was now racing as the announcement loomed.

"Good morning, students. I hope your past week has been enjoyable as it has been productive. I'd like to start off this assembly with news on who will become Student Council President. The following people in the running are," Hearing his cue, a 1st year student that Weiss recognised from the council meetings, walked up on stage and handed Goodwitch a piece of paper. Looking at the paper briefly before noticeably raising her eyebrows, Goodwitch continued her announcement: "Ms. Weiss Schnee." Upon hearing her name, Weiss exhaled then quickly got up from her chair and started walking up on to the stage much to the apparent chagrin of Professor Goodwitch.

"Ms. Schnee, please, there's no need to be on stage right now." Goodwitch quietly told the student approaching the podium on stage.

"Please, Professor Goodwitch, I just want to say a quick word." Weiss replied also in low volume. Sighing, Goodwitch let the student stand on the podium to address the crowd of students. Weiss quickly cleared her throat and put on a professional smile as she was about to begin her speech.

"Thank you, Professor Goodwitch. Greetings: fellow students of Beacon. As your new Student Council President, I prom—"

"Also in the running for Student Council President," Goodwitch interrupted now realising the student's error. "Ms. Yang Xiao Long."

Suddenly Weiss was unable to speak, her eyes now almost bulging open and occasionally twitching, her lips slightly parted and her jaw noticeably lower than before, a look of complete shock and devastation now etched across her face as she stared blankly into the crowd. The heiress just stood there on stage for a couple of moments scanning the room until finally finding the other candidate directing a similar blank stare back at her, sitting next to Weiss' opponent was her black-bowed teammate who covered her face with her hands, understandably uncomfortable by this recent turn of events.

"Just a reminder to all students-" Goodwitch finally continued. "The day of voting for Student Council President will be on November 7th. Good luck to both candidates with your campaigns over the next month."

Finally being able to process basic information again, Weiss slowly turn around and made her way off the stage and back into her seat, her face still dumbstruck throughout the rest of Professor Goodwitch's speech. The heiress picked up her backpack and quietly made her way out of the hall as the assembly ended. Slowly walking her way out of the academy building to get some fresh air, Weiss looked up to the serene blue sky for a short time as she felt a gentle breeze across her face. After gazing at the sky for a moment or two longer, she turned to survey the great variety of flora around the academy, the bright vibrant colours of the flowers contrasting with the more soothing appearance of the shrubbery and other plant life. Separating herself further from the students, Weiss gradually made her way up to the side of the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Now undoubtedly alone, Weiss stared at the forest's seemingly endless number of large, strong trees holding a variety of rare, beautiful birds on their branches and with many of the lush green leaves now almost radiant from the sunlight reflecting off of them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Weiss wailed from the top of her lungs until she had no energy left to speak.

 _How can she do this to me?! After I helped she with those assignments and she can't even pay attention at any of the meetings! She signs up just to spite me!_

Weiss finally took a moment to pause and reflect.

 _Okay, she probably has nothing planned for her campaign. I can't let this get to me. I just need to keep my composure and continue with my campaign as planned._

Making her way back to the academy and reaching her team's room, Weiss found one of her teammates there reading a book. Now remembering that Blake also had a free period this time of the week, the heiress decided to make the most of this opportunity: "Hi, Blake." Weiss attempted to sound as innocent and laidback as possible.

Blake briefly looked up from her book and responded with a simple: "Hi."

"So as you know, Yang's now also in the running for Student Council President. So I was wondering if—"

"I'm not helping you. I don't want to drive this team further apart than it already has been recently." Blake stated firmly.

"But you wouldn't be doing—"

"No, Weiss. I'm not getting dragged into this."

"Fine." Weiss huffed. "Have you seen Ruby anywhere?"

Blake sighed, knowing Weiss' intention but answered anyway: "I think she mentioned something about taking Zwei for a walk this morning."

"Thanks." Weiss quickly replied before exiting the room and heading towards the usual open field behind the academy where her partner would take Zwei for walks. Reaching the field and sure enough finding Ruby and her pet dog, Weiss greeted her partner.

"Hey, Ruby."

"Hi, Weiss. What's up?" Ruby replied, bright as ever.

"Not much. I was just wondering if you could do me a favour."

"What is it?"

"So as you saw in today's assembly, I—"

"What assembly?" Ruby now had a confused look on her face.

"You weren't at today's assembly?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, I guess I must have forgotten about it again while I was walking with Zwei. Easy to lose track of time, y'know?" Ruby now had her usual flustered expression for when she is caught screwing up by her partner. Weiss always found that look kind of adorable though she of course would never mention that to her partner or anyone. Weiss shook her head quickly, snapping her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Really, Ruby? Constantly missing assemblies is not good enough."

"I know, Weiss, I'm sorry but please can you keep this between us, I don't want Goodwitch or any of the other staff on my back for my attendance dropping a little." Ruby pleaded.

"Fine, just try to remember to actually show up to assemblies for at least the next few weeks." Weiss replied. "Anyway, back to the favour, so as you know I signed up to be Student Council President."

"Really?! I had no idea, you hardly ever mentioned it!" Ruby's face was now in a state of pseudo-shock before forming a grin.

"Okay, I know." Weiss conceded. "I may have gone a little overboard with it recently."

"A little?!"

"Fine, a bit more than a little. The point is someone else actually signed up for it in the last minute so I was hoping you would be able to help me with my campaign."

"Well, I mean sure I would but I don't get why you would need my help, Weiss, surely you have everything in your campaign pretty much planned already."

"I do but these sorts of campaigns are usually formed of the candidate and their supporters in a team." Weiss explained. "It helps to have people showing public support for the candidates."

Suddenly a suspicion rose up in Ruby's head as Weiss was talking to her.

 _She hasn't mentioned specifically who the other candidate is... Could it possibly be_ — _Nah, that's silly._

Dismissing the thought Ruby suddenly turned her attention back to the heiress now just looking at her intently before speaking after a brief, quiet moment.

"So?" Weiss asked. "Will you do it?"

"Sure." Ruby answered before finding herself caught in an enthusiastic hug.

"Thank you so much, Ruby! I won't forget this."

Ruby's face turned an intense shade of red and featured a rather wide, clumsy smile.

 _Wow, this must really mean a lot to Weiss... Of course it does, you idiot, she's been talking about it for the past week non-stop._

Shortly after Ruby internally scorned herself for the dumb thought, Weiss broke the hug and asked Ruby another question.

"So when can you start? How about lunchtime?"

"I would but that's in like..." Ruby looked at her watch, "twenty minutes from now and I need to go to the food hall to get some lunch and—"

"I can get you some lunch from the food hall and bring it to you." Weiss quickly responded.

"Okay then, I guess." Ruby shrugged. "Let me just take Zwei back to the dorm and I'll be right there with you."

"I can do that!" Weiss responded a bit too loudly.

Ruby's confused look returned to her face. "Weiss, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Weiss soon realised she said those words in a rather defensive manner but it was too late.

"You've just been acting a bit weird."

"I just really want to start my campaign off as soon as possible. Make every second count."

 _Yeah I suppose that makes sense with Weiss._ "Alright then." Ruby handed over Zwei's leash to Weiss who after grabbing it, took off her backpack, opened it and carefully handed Ruby a large pile of posters and fliers and a large white badge.

Ruby just about managed to steady herself while ensuring she doesn't drop anything. "You've been planning this for a while, haven't you?"

"Eh, only since around the end of the 2nd year." Weiss retorted. "What do you want for lunch?"

Ruby attempted to shrug while holding the large pile. "I'm not too fussed, Weiss. I'll just have a ham sandwich or something like that."

"Okay. Thanks again, Ruby." Weiss smiled. "See you later." The heiress turned and began making her way to the dorm.

"One more thing!" Ruby called out to her partner. Weiss stopped in her tracks and quickly turned around before returning to where she previously stood with her partner. "Speaking of food," Ruby was now finding it difficult to look directly at Weiss. "I, um, heard that this new fancy restaurant opened up in Vale and I, um, was just wondering if you haven't got much planned on Friday evening..."

Weiss bit her lip, this was not the first time Ruby suggested one of these 'activities'. What made this a difficult situation wasn't that Weiss didn't feel 'that' way about her partner, if that were actually the case then things would've been rather simple. What made this situation difficult was that she did in fact like Ruby in 'that' way but she was also aware that a relationship would only complicate things with the team and make their partnership or friendship after Beacon more awkward if things didn't work out. However, there was still a little part of Weiss which did not want to completely eliminate the possibility of a relationship happening. Therefore, instead of trying to just politely turn her down, making it clear that she is not interested, Weiss repeated the same phrase she used in these similar situations which she had now grown to loathe:

"Maybe another time, I've got a lot of stuff to do right now." _Ugh, I'm a coward. A pathetic coward._

"Oh, alright." Ruby's disappointment was clear in her low voice and her dejected face.

Weiss felt like she was just punched in the stomach repeatedly.

After seeing the expressions they caused each other to have, the two students looked up at each other and tried to give their partner a comforting smile though that only seemed to increase their level of distress each in the scenario. Eventually realising this conversation could not be salvaged through this awkward facade of happiness, Ruby and Weiss silently went their separate ways.

* * *

Yang yawned as she left the classroom following another tiring study period. She should probably be thinking about what to do for her campaign, what she actually wants to change at the academy, how she can get that message across or at least a memorable slogan. Right now though, Yang was still revelling in Weiss' priceless reaction at the assembly. Therefore, Yang's main concerns currently were finding anyone who may have filmed today's assembly and getting some lunch. Just as Yang was about to open the door to the food hall she heard a very familiar, high-pitched voice:

"Vote for Weiss!"

 _No way._

Yang backed off from the door and turned to face the direction the voice was coming from. Briskly walking towards a nearby corridor, Yang's worst fear was realised as sure enough she saw her little sister wearing a large white "Vote Weiss" badge, giving out fliers to students passing by. The wall behind her little sister was covered in posters each with a picture of Weiss against a white background and in large blue letters read: "Vote Weiss for a Greater Tomorrow!"

 _What the hell is going on?!_

Yang couldn't believe her sister's treachery while Ruby was too swept up in giving nearby students fliers to notice her older sister observing her from afar. Yang took a deep breath as she prepared to storm up to her sister and politely ask her what on Remnant she is doing but paused after taking her first step.

 _Hmm, shouting at my little sister in front of a large crowd of students: not the best way to start my campaign._

Yang looked up at her blissfully unaware sister once more and shook her head before turning around and making her way back to the food hall. After getting served a large lump of lasagne, Yang quickly looked around the hall and spotted a distinct black bow in the distance. As Yang walked up to the individual with the black bow, she noticed the absence of a certain smug teammate before smiling and sitting next to her partner.

"Hey, Blake, seen Weiss anywhere?" Yang inquired.

"Hi, Yang." Blake replied politely. "Last time I saw Weiss was at our room, she was looking for Ruby. I told her she probably took Zwei for a walk and well, you probably saw what happened."

"You saw it too, huh?"

"It's pretty hard to miss, Yang, there are posters all over the corridors and your sister isn't exactly a master of subtlety."

"I don't get why Ruby would immediately side against me like that."

"She does seem to have a greater tolerance for Weiss than we do but that still doesn't explain everything."

"So now I'm against the crazy-prepared Weiss and she managed to put my own sister against me." Yang surmised. "I don't have a chance in hell, unless..." Yang lingered on the last word as she tried but failed to subtly direct this conversation in a certain direction. Blake hung her head low and sighed.

"Yang, I'm sorry but like I told Weiss earlier, I really don't want to get dragged into this. I told you before to try to keep quiet with how you have been feeling about Weiss; signing yourself up to run as Student Council President is pretty much the opposite of keeping quiet."

"I know, Blake and I really did try to do that but you saw how Weiss was acting lately." Yang pleaded her case. "I needed to do something or I was going to explode at her sooner or later, I figured this is the best chance to get some form of productive retribution for how she was acting but I can't do this on my own. Blake, you're the smartest person I know, if anyone would be able to help me out with this sort of thing, it's you."

Blake looked into Yang's lilac eyes now shimmering as they reflected the light through the near window, filled with desperation, hope and maybe a hint of longing, a site the Faunus found all too stunning to reject. _God damn it._ Blake groaned.

"Fine, I'll do it but you can't let Ruby or Weiss find out. Okay?"

"Sure thing, partner! You're the best!" Yang now had a broad smile on her face.

Blake didn't respond and just continued to eat her lunch. _Oh, Yang, things would be so much easier if I could just say no to your stupid, gorgeous face._

* * *

Ruby let out a long groan, tired after hours of afternoon classes, training and promoting her partner's campaign, she knew this was going to be a long week. Ruby opened the door to the room to find only Weiss there.

"Hi, Weiss, do you know where are our teammates are?"

"Hi, Ruby, I think Blake's at the library and Yang is doing some more training." Weiss answered.

"Okay. Oh by the way, this little thought has been bugging me all day but who are you actually facing in the election?" Ruby asked with genuine curiosity. "I might have just forgotten you mentioning it but I don't think you told me."

Weiss suddenly froze in place, trying to think of any possible way out of this though it didn't take long for her partner catch on.

"Wait, no!" Ruby's voice now significantly increased in volume. "There's no way it's actually... You would tell me if you were up against my own sister, right?"

Weiss remained frozen as before all but confirming what her partner suspected.

"What the hell, Weiss?! You lied to me!"

"You never actually asked about it..." Weiss managed to quietly get out.

"Oh but the whole getting my lunch thing and taking Zwei to the dorm had no ulterior motives!?" Ruby mentally patted herself on the back for those extra English classes she had taken coming in handy in times like this.

"Okay, fine, you're right. I tricked you, Ruby. I'm sorry." Weiss was finding a bit more courage in her voice than she had before though that did not last long.

"You're only using me to support your campaign to get back at Yang!" Ruby suddenly realised reaching a level of anger Weiss had not seen before, it worried her.

"No!" Weiss' voice cracked as she instantly denied her partner's accusation. "I actually asked Blake about it first. I—"

"Oh so I'm just second choice behind Blake! Thanks, Weiss, how consider—"

"No, Ruby! I only asked Blake first because she was the first person I saw after I found out about Yang entering. I was always planning on asking all of my teammates to help me regardless of who the other candidate was." Weiss exclaimed hoping her partner had any semblance of trust left in her. "I know me not telling you about Yang earlier was wrong; I was dumb and selfish, I just thought there was no chance you would help me if you knew!"

While Ruby no longer looked as angry as she did before, the intensity of her emotions did not decrease as she now looked to be fighting off tears from forming in her eyes as she asked: "Why?! Why did you want me to help you?"

"Because you've been a great leader for our team, Ruby. I figured if I could get the support from an inspiring, warm and genuine person like you, maybe people would actually vote for the 'Ice Queen'." Now it was Weiss who was who was trying to stop herself from breaking down, the heiress buried her face in her hands and turned away from her partner ashamed as some unpleasant memories entered the forefront of her mind.

Ruby paused for a moment, Weiss opening up and showing how vulnerable she really is was something not to be taken lightly, and Ruby knew that. However, despite a large part of Ruby really wanting to just stay and help Weiss, she knew that it wouldn't be right to not inform her older sister of the situation.

"I need to talk to Yang." Ruby quietly stated before leaving the room and heading to the academy gym.

As she was walking towards the gym, Ruby felt a pang of guilt swell inside her for leaving her partner like that, she wished she could help Weiss but she tricked her, and Yang should know about it... She still really wished she could help Weiss. Reaching the gym in little time, Ruby found her older sister to be the only person there currently working on the punch bag. "Yang!" Ruby called out to her sister.

Yang turned her head to see her traitorous sister. "Oh hi, Ruby!" The blonde brawler greeted the visitor with such over-the-top enthusiasm that it was obviously not meant to be taken genuinely.

"Listen Yang, about the election—"

"Oh nice, you finally decided to talk to me about it?" Yang maintained her sarcastic tone.

"Yes, it's just that—"

"Don't worry about it, Ruby." Yang interrupted once more. "I mean sure it would have been nice to have been told in advance and I get you want to get close to Weiss and all but I'll just consider us even after I ruined your dress."

"No, it's just that I didn't— wait, what?" Ruby was caught off-guard by the final part of Yang's sentence. "You were the one who tore up my first combat skirt?!"

"Well, it wasn't on purpose." Yang replied, her sarcastic tone now gone. "Remember that time we got drunk near the end of the 1st year?"

"We got drunk many times around the end of the 1st year, Yang." Ruby stated flatly.

"Okay, that time where you broke your nose and Weiss was visiting her family in Atlas."

"That narrows it down a bit more. Yes, I remember that."

"Well, you see, when you were being attended to by the nurse, Blake and I were still drinking and we may have made a little bet to see if I could fit into your 'combat skirt'." Yang now appeared slightly nervous as she continued her story: "I didn't win that bet. So after that accident I might have hid the evidence for a little while and when you finally found out about it and questioned me I acted none the wiser."

"Wow, Yang, how thoughtful of you!" Ruby returned her older sister's earlier sarcasm.

"Hey, I was drunk, okay and as you probably remember it really was beyond repair and I did help you get a new one."

"Sure but you never told me until now! I had that combat skirt for years."

"I know, Ruby, it was embarrassing and I'm sorry but like I said, we're even now, right?"

Ruby paused for a moment. _I should still tell her about Weiss' deception otherwise I would just be a big hypocrite but... I could just agree and side with Weiss, it would make things a lot simpler and Yang would not feel as guilty about ruining my skirt because we would be 'even'._ After carefully taking the consequences of her two possible choices into consideration, Ruby finally replied to her sister: "Right."

"Glad to hear." Yang lost all signs of irritation at her sister and gave Ruby a big grin. "Now just because you're siding with Weiss, don't think I'm going to go easy on either of you!"

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Ruby cheerfully replied her mood also now significantly brightened. "See you around, Yang!" As Ruby left the gym happy that her relationship with her sister hasn't suffered as a result of this, yet, she knew that Yang's current problems with Weiss wouldn't be resolved this quickly or simply which was another good reason to not tell her sister about her partner's deception, she doesn't need to give Yang another reason to be mad at Weiss. Once again though, as Ruby was walking between the gym and her dorm, she started to worry that she had not been making the smartest of choices.

 _I mean sure, Yang is not mad at me but getting involved in this conflict between my two teammates may just lead to more problems. Is it really worth all this potential trouble?_

Ruby entered the room once more to see the heiress alone in the corner of the room sitting on her bed, facing the ground and not giving any response to Ruby's entrance. The person sitting in front of her could have been mistaken for a life-like statue of Weiss if it wasn't for the quiet sniffles Ruby could hear coming from where the person sat. Ruby slowly walked up to her partner before speaking: "So what do you want help with in your campaign tomorrow?"

Weiss looked up from the floor and to her partner, revealing to Ruby her red cheeks and matching, bloodshot eyes surrounded by her staining mascara then gave a small smile.

 _Yes, totally worth it._


	3. Opening Shots

Yang approached the unoccupied podium on the right hand side of the stage, tired from her recent running to the assembly hall.

"Nice of you to actually show up." The heiress taunted her passing opponent as she stood on the podium on the left hand side of the stage. Truth be told, Yang wouldn't have shown up if Blake didn't call her on her scroll a few minutes earlier:

"Hey, I'm at the assembly hall, where are you?"

"I'm having lunch at the food hall, where else would I be?" Yang answered back confused.

"I don't know, maybe at the assembly hall for your open debate with Weiss scheduled to happen in 5 minutes!"

"What open debate?"

"The one Goodwitch mentioned in yesterday's assembly but I'm guessing you were too focused on Weiss' reaction there to pay attention to anything Goodwitch said after that happened."

"Maybe."

"Just show up, Yang and try to think of what to say while you're at it. You don't want to start off your campaign no-showing this."

"Got it. Thanks, bye."

Quickly turning off her scroll, Yang proceeded to run through the long corridors and large crowds of students between the two halls before making it just in time without many seconds to spare.

Yang was not exactly sure what she was supposed to prepare for in this open debate, likely because she didn't know there was an open debate until a few minutes ago. As she got up on the stage and reached the empty podium, Yang took the time to actually observe the room: there were a decent number of students there, around 40 to 50. There were nowhere near as many students as you'd see in an assembly but then again assemblies are supposed to be compulsory for students to attend and these open debates certainly were not unless you happened to be one of the two participants in said debate. Finally catching her breath from all her running, Yang found Blake and Ruby among the crowd next to each other in the front row, Ruby seeming upbeat enough as she mouthed the words "Good luck" to her sister while Blake just gave Yang a polite but understandably nervous smile.

"Alright." Goodwitch plainly addressed the students as she stood in the centre of the stage between the two candidates on the podiums. "Now that both candidates are present, this open debate can begin. Let's start off with opening statements from each candidate then they can take some questions from the crowd. Does either candidate have a preference as to who should go first?"

"I'd like to go first if I may, Professor Goodwitch." Weiss quickly answered. Seeing the teacher nod in response, Weiss turned her face back to look at the crowd sitting in front of her: "Fellow students of Beacon. If you are to elect me as your Student Council President, I plan to help further emphasize the importance and responsibility we are going to take on when we finally graduate to become huntresses or huntsmen. This would involve setting up more academy events to promote and teach students more about the history of those who have defended each and every kingdom in Remnant; to help us learn and adapt in accordance to the actions of the people whose footsteps we are following in today." Appearing satisfied with her statement, the heiress took a couple steps back from her podium to indicate she had nothing left to currently say.

Goodwitch turned to face the other candidate: "Ms. Xiao Long, your opening statement."

Yang did not initially react to Goodwitch's request, finding it hard to think, let alone being able to translate any thought into words. After, a few seconds of silence and realising she was being stared at by about 50 people waiting for her to say something, Yang cleared her mind and tried to focus. _Okay, just start out like Weiss did and see how things go from there._ Slowly taking a couple of steps closer to her podium, Yang opened her mouth to speak:

"If you are to elect me as Student Council President, I..." Yang paused for a moment before she settled for saying the first half-decent idea which came to mind "I, um, would do my best to make sure that your time at Beacon would be as memorable and enjoyable as possible... Oh but I would also make sure that you would be well enough prepared for becoming hunters... It would just be without all the boring stuff Weiss mentioned... Yeah." Out of ideas and noticing the heiress glowering at her for the latest comment, Yang stepped back from the podium hoping she was standing above some sort of trap door about to be activated so she could escape this predicament. Unfortunately this did not prove to be the case as Goodwitch proceeded to look toward the students sitting in front of the stage and say the two words which currently filled Yang with complete dread:

"Any questions?" Immediately about a dozen hands from the crowd shot up until Goodwitch motioned for one student near the back of crowd to speak causing Yang's heart to sink a little lower:

"Weiss, how do you plan on implementing these extra history events should you become Student Council President?"

Weiss smiled briefly before answering: "I have already discussed this idea with many teachers at the academy themselves and a number of them were open to give extra lectures on their experiences they had from when they first graduated themselves to the struggles they had in later years. If this proves popular enough, I'll try to contact other hunters outside of Vale to help give a wider scope for Remnant as a whole."

Goodwitch motioned for another student to ask a question: "Yang, you say that you plan on making our experience here as 'enjoyable and memorable as possible' but at the same time you say that you also intend to help with our preparation for graduating, is that not a contradiction?"

Yang took a couple of moments to carefully consider the question, or at least try to appear as if she was carefully considering the question. _Sheesh, what kind of students are these? The kind of students who would attend an open debate, you numskull._ "I, um, would not say that's necessarily a contradiction, enjoying oneself and preparing for graduation are not two mutually exclusive things, they can both coexist in a variety of activities." Yang replied actually somewhat satisfied with the answer she produced.

"What activities do you have in mind?" The same student asked.

"I, um, am currently considering a few things but nothing is set in stone." Yang blurted out, quickly losing any small sense of satisfaction she had.

"Okay, we are running low on time so we only have time for one more question." Goodwitch stated as she gestured for another student to speak up.

"Yang, what exactly were you referring to when you mentioned Weiss' 'boring stuff'?"

"Oh, I, um, meant the focus on the history." Yang quietly responded, her nerves growing by the second

"Do you not think the history of past hunters is important?"

"Oh, I do, I, um, just think there's other important aspects to being a hunter that need focus as well."

"Okay." Goodwitch said with increased volume. "That's all for this week's open debate. If you have any further queries you would like either candidate to answer then please attend next week's open debate."

Yang deeply exhaled, relieved that this torture was over at least until next week, she slowly stepped off the stage and began making her way back to the food hall until she heard the other candidate call to her:

"Yang."

The brawler turned around, seeing the scowling heiress walk towards her, only stopping when their feet were a few inches apart. Not backing down and returning the gesture with a glare, Yang had a pretty good idea what Weiss was going to say though that didn't make it any easier to hear it:

"Next time actually plan something or just don't show up at all. I was embarrassed for you there." After sharing her thoughts and not waiting for a reply, Weiss quickly turned then began confidently striding away, quickly joined by her partner walking alongside her not looking too pleased.

"Was that really necessary?" Ruby asked.

"She brought that upon herself when she signed up for this." The heiress retorted to her partner as they exited the assembly hall.

Still standing where Weiss had spoken to her a few moments ago, Yang clenched her fists and started contemplating exactly how long it would take to tear apart the entire stage until she heard another familiar voice:

"Hey, you okay?"

Releasing the tight grip in her hands and letting out a loud groan, Yang turned to her partner. Seeing Blake's long raven hair, striking amber eyes, perfectly sculpted nose and shapely lips, all of which accentuated her amazing body, Yang was actually able to take much of her mind off the debate she just had, perhaps a bit too much when she eventually noticed that her partner was still waiting for an answer. "No, obviously. Did you not just see what happened?"

"It could have gone better." Blake admitted, either not noticing her partner checking her out or deciding to not bring attention to it. "Still, it's only been two days into your campaign so there's a lot of stuff we can work on; we at least have a bit of direction now."

"The only direction I'm really confident in is the direction of my fist going towards Weiss' face."

Blake gently placed a hand on Yang's shoulder sending a small shock up the brawler's spine. "Hey, you can't let her get to you like this. The whole reason you entered this election was to prevent this sort of thing from happening, wasn't it? Well, if you actually want that then you have to stay focused. How about we meet up early Saturday morning at the library, there's no way Weiss or Ruby will be around there then so we can brainstorm some ideas for your campaign there, sound good?"

Yang let out a small sigh. "Okay, Blake."

* * *

Ruby was starting to feel rather lethargic as she sat on a chair facing Weiss in the team room, looking over the pile of small cards in her hand for what was probably around the millionth time. "I still don't know why we're doing this, Weiss. You did awesome in the open debate yesterday."

"There weren't that many students at the open debate." Weiss explained as she quickly stood up and adjusted the old, borrowed camera behind her partner before sitting back down where she was. "We need to get more people's attention."

"Huh? Why would you need more attention?" Ruby directed her attention back to her partner giving her a confused look.

Weiss didn't reply, her face now displaying a similarly confused expression so Ruby continued:

"I mean everyone already knows you: you're the most gifted, dedicated and beautiful student in the whole academy!" Ruby exclaimed, now looking warmly at her partner.

For the second time in three days Weiss was rendered incapable of speech as she now found herself lost in the sweet silver eyes of her affectionate partner. However, this time, instead of the heiress' mind screeching to a halt, it was entering super speed as she was swarmed by a number of suggestions for how to respond: _Kiss her. Hug her. Return the compliment. Ask her out. Flir_ — _Damn it, Weiss! You can't do this, you need to concentrate._ Snapping out of her brief reverie, Weiss blinked a few times, tried to casually clear her throat then broke the silence: "We should really get this interview going." Weiss stood up and checked the camera over once more before catching her partner's look of sorrow out of the corner of her eye. "But thanks, Ruby. It means a lot to hear that from you."After seeing the hints of a smile form on her partner's face, the heiress returned the gesture before reminding her: "Try to ask the questions loud and clear, just not too loud."

"I know, you already said that last time."

"Okay, let's try this again." Weiss made sure everything was setup correctly before pressing the record button on camera.

* * *

Yang was starting to feel a lot better after having a couple of days to calm down following the first debate and her little confrontation with Weiss, then again, she had barely interacted with the heiress or her own sister since, only actually conversing them with them during the evenings and briefly in the morning at their room. There was no doubt in the brawler's mind that the two were planning something to further promote Weiss' campaign but she did begin to miss having fun with her teammates. Ever since Yang joined the council at the start of the year there was a bit of tension building between her and Weiss but now with Yang entering this election she was responsible for this division within the entire team. It also irked the brawler to admit it but the heiress did have a point: she was ill-prepared for the first debate and there would not be much point in continuing to attend these debates if she didn't actually do something about it. Hopefully tomorrow morning's meeting with Blake at the library would prove be a turning point for Yang's campaign and there were certainly benefits beyond just helping her election chances in getting to have some alone time with Blake. After getting something for lunch, Yang quickly saw the Faunus on her mind and sat down by the empty seat beside her.

"H—" Before Yang could even finish the first word of her greeting, she was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the door to the hall. Yang along with many other students turned to see the cause of the sound which proved to be none other than her own little sister trying to get through the hall with a large film projector.

"Excuse me!" Ruby shouted as she continued to barrel through the hall trying to avoid getting in other students' way with only partial success before eventually finding a spot in the hall facing a blank wall and not obstructed by any tables. "Eh, I guess this will have to do _._ " Ruby thought successfully setting up and placing the film projector on its stand, Ruby eventually found the right button to push on the camera then found the nearest empty seat available to sit down on as the short film began to play for the students in the hall.

The film playing surprisingly well on the blank wall showed Weiss sitting down in what appeared to be a random black room though Yang soon realised from the few items next to the heiress in the film that it was in fact just their team room with a black background.

"Ms. Schnee," Yang quickly recognised from the way her little sister was speaking that she was reading from some sort of script. "First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to have this interview."

The heiress chuckled lightly before responding: "Oh please, the pleasure is all mine."

Blake and Yang shared a bemused look with one another before turning back to watch the film as Ruby asked her first question:

"First of all, Ms. Schnee, may I ask for your thoughts on your opponent's campaign thus far?"

"I'd love to be able to share my thoughts on my opponent's campaign; unfortunately my opponent does not even seem to have a campaign. I have seen no evidence to indicate she has put any thought into it anywhere around the academy or at the first debate we had."

"That is a shame, I'm sure you would have had some great insight."

Ruby silently groaned to herself in the hall at the awkward transition points she had to make in the film along with her rather wooden delivery of her lines in general:

"If you had to sum up your campaign's message in one word, what would that word be, Ms. Schnee?"

"Adapt." Weiss answered confidently. "Ultimately, I would say my campaign is about helping students here learn to be able to adapt to any scenario but that is only possible with having the right extent of knowledge on what exactly hunters go through and experience which is what I plan to help provide through my extra historical lectures should I become Student Council President."

"Right, of course. Finally, Ms. Schnee, your campaign seems to have the momentum of a top of the line Schnee Dust Company cargo train, what makes you so popular?"

Yang got a confused look on her face. _Popular? It has been less than a week. I suppose Weiss already thinks she has this won._

The heiress in the film gave a slight pause for apparent thought before answering: "There have been many key facets responsible for the success of my campaign thus far besides having a superior intellect and greater integrity than my opponent. If I had to surmise I would say that it comes down to the 3 D's I have always stood by throughout my time at the academy: Dedication, Discipline and Destiny. My dedication to this academy while in the student council has already greatly helped students during their time here. For example, ever since I was able to pass the motion in favour of decreasing the power of the rocket thrusters on the lockers, there has been a significant decrease in the number of reported head trauma issues at the academy. I have always maintained myself with great discipline and elegance throughout my time at academy, like all great leaders I am not prone to random outbursts of rage at the drop of a hat or the misplacing of a hair. Finally and perhaps most important of all: I am destined to become the leader because I am a Schnee, we are all born destined for greatness and have all achieved greatness in our lives. We do not simply act on a whim to have our desires burn out then just settle for some lousy job we get based on our appearance. We work hard to continue our legacy, for it to carry on and be remembered for future generations."

"Thank you for this enlightening interview, Ms. Schnee and I wish you good luck for the rest of your presidential campaign."

"Thank you, Ruby." Weiss courteously replied before turning to look directly at the camera. "And thank you all for listening, vote for me and I shall make sure you will all have the knowledge to adapt to whatever situation you may come across after you graduate and provide you with the right tools to continue this academy's legacy and craft your own." The wall now returned to being blank followed by a few seconds of silence in the food hall.

Ruby now had her face buried in her hands and was trying to think of the best way to make it back to her dorm without being asked by too many students about the film she just played to them.

Yang, on the other hand was now smiling at this silence. _Ha, looks like Weiss shot herself in the foot with that!_

This did not prove to be the case though as to the shock of both sisters, they suddenly heard a few students begin to clap soon followed by a few more. The clapping gradually continued to grow until most of the people in the hall were applauding.

Not currently attempting to comprehend how these students could actually applaud this, Yang turned her face towards her partner to get her attention only to find Blake was already looking at her. While the Faunus remained silent, her determined expression told Yang everything she needed: Weiss is not going to win this.


	4. Striking Back

Blake sat by the largest available desk in the library as she patiently waited for her partner to arrive. The Faunus was well aware of the possibility that her partner may end up turning up a little later than the scheduled time; Yang wasn't much of a morning person especially on the weekends. The option of waking Yang up herself would likely not have ended well either with Yang being by far the heaviest sleeper in the team, Blake would have likely inadvertently woke her other two teammates in trying to get her partner out of her slumber, therefore the Faunus simply trusted Yang to be capable of dragging herself out bed. As she reflected on this decision, Blake checked that the several piles of blank paper for posters and one large piece of paper she had for writing and expanding on campaign ideas were all in order before she heard someone approaching the library. Sure enough, she saw Yang in the distance at the other side of the library which was, as expected, pretty much deserted.

"Hi, sorry I'm a little late." Yang greeted her partner, looking slightly embarrassed at not being able to make it on schedule.

"It's fine. We should have plenty of time here." Blake's dismissal of the need of an apology helped Yang calm down who now looked to the desk in front of her and the overwhelming amount of paper on it.

"Good, I think we'll need it." Yang's bashful admittance of her current incompetence did not get the reaction she had hoped from her partner who just maintained a neutral expression so Yang opted to sit down in the empty chair next to Blake then ask: "So where do we start?"

"Well," Blake sighed. "I suppose I should just be blunt about it." The Faunus paused to look at her partner, after seeing nothing telling her to stop, she continued: "The main thing you lack right now is passion. We could spend all day criticising what Weiss has done in her campaign right now but one thing we can't deny is that she has been passionate about it and people are more likely to vote for someone who seems to actually care about what they're talking about in an election than someone who just seemed to enter it because it would make for a funny moment at an assembly. The first important thing we need to look at is finding something you're passionate about and how we can use that for your campaign."

"Okay, well the main reason that I want to become a huntress is for the excitement which comes from all the possibilities. New places to be, new monsters to fight."

"Alright so we can focus on the more physical aspects of being a hunter in your campaign since that would directly oppose Weiss' intention to look at hunters through a more historical and literature-focused lens. Any ideas on some sort of event or club to promote this?"

"Hmm, I don't think I'd get permission to bring any kind of Grimm into the academy." Yang openly deprecated the first thought that came to mind before saying something which sounded more realistic: "Maybe I could organise some small tournaments in one of the arenas during the evenings." Yang hesitated, noticing her partner was now writing what she was saying down before reflecting on the idea further and continuing: "Maybe each round could have certain rules like no use of Aura or no weaponry to help flesh out and broaden each student's fighting skills, prepare them for any sort of scenario which might happen to you as a hunter." Yang looked up to see her partner with a small grin on her face. "What?"

"That's a really good idea, Yang. I could see a lot of students enjoying that, myself included." Blake stated with what seemed like almost a sense of pride to the brawler.

"Thanks." Was all Yang was able to respond with at that point, her stomach and chest now filled with a weird buzzing sensation.

"Any other ideas?"

"Well, I have been thinking about the council itself. I mean most of the time the meetings are just ran by who can shout the loudest and who is the most confident in their own ideas and no guesses for who that is right now. I was thinking maybe to find a way for students outside the council themselves to be able to actually make a difference in that. Maybe something as simple as a suggestion box would be a start or an open poll to vote for the topic of discussion in each council meeting."

Blake nodded as she continued writing these ideas down on the large piece of paper. "I'm not sure how much difference either of those two things would be able to make to be completely honest, Yang but we could at least spin that in such a way at the debate to show that you'll be actually taking the opinions of all the students into account unlike your other candidate who I imagine would want to keep the council the way it is."

"True enough." Yang replied, a little surprised by her partner's pragmatic outlook on her idea.

"So, I think we're good for now on the campaign message front."Blake concluded. "Any thoughts on posters or slogans?"

"Ah!" Yang remembered. "I've actually already done something with that myself yesterday evening." The brawler pulled out a poster before displaying it to her partner. "Tada!" Yang exclaimed momentarily forgetting she was in the library. The poster featured a picture of Yang grinning in a similar fashion to her current facial expression and giving a thumbs up pose in front a bright red background, the yellow text at the bottom of the poster read: "Vote Yang for a Brighter Future!"

"I suppose that will be fine." Blake shrugged.

"Wow, thanks for the enthusiasm!"

"It stands out and the slogan isn't terrible, that's all we really need."

"Blake, you're going to have to stop with all this praise." Yang now entered full-on facetious mode. "I'm not sure if I can take anymore without fainting."

Blake just rolled her eyes. "What did you want me to say?"

"I don't know, something like a 'that looks nice' would have been good."

Blake turned to look at Yang's poster once more, carefully inspecting its level of detail and the way the colours contrasted one another before looking back towards her partner. Blake closed her eyes, took a deep breath then began slowly moving herself and her chair forward as the short distance between the Faunus and the brawler started to diminish. Feeling her legs come into contact with her partner's, Blake stopped moving, gradually lifting her head up to reveal her amber eyes once more along with a playful smile. Her face was now only a few inches away from Yang's own which appeared unsure of what was going on. The Faunus stayed in her position for a few moments as she studied her partner up close, noticing Yang's reddened cheeks and eyes fluttering, Blake eventually grinned and said: "Oh well." Blake quickly put herself and her chair back in their initial position at the desk then went back to looking at the papers as if nothing just happened.

Yang frowned but soon noticed the little smirk on her partner's face causing the brawler to follow suit. _Did... Did Blake just make a move on me? She totally did! Ask her out!_ "Hey, Blake, I—" Yang stopped herself.

"Yes?" Blake asked.

 _Wait! Slow down, just slow down. I don't know anything for sure yet. How about I return with some teasing of my own for a bit and see how it goes from there? That could be fun._ "I, um, had this idea for a video to counter some of the points Weiss made in her interview." Yang did actually have a few ideas on a campaign ad she had been planning to share later on.

"Oh, okay, let's hear it." The Faunus appeared intrigued.

"I actually have most of the things I need for it already, you still have that Grimm mask from the White Fang, right?"

"I do."

"Good, so the main challenge will be finding someone willing to wear this." Yang grabbed the rather large costume she somehow managed to fit into her backpack and displayed it to her partner.

"I can see how that would be a challenge but I think I know someone who we might be able to persuade."

* * *

"Hey, Jaune!"

Jaune jolted up from his seat, catching the attention of some other students enjoying their lunch at the food hall, as he heard someone behind him shout his name and felt a hand on his shoulder. Jaune's apprehension was put at ease though when he turned around.

"Oh, hey, Yang. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks, I was just wondering: do you have any time today or tomorrow to help me out with something?"

"I'm kind of busy today with finishing off some assignments but I don't have much planned for tomorrow. What do you want help with?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to star in a little film I was making for my campaign, you don't have to say anything good or bad about me or Weiss, we just need you to follow some basic directions."

"Sure that sounds like it could be a lot of fun." Jaune's voice increased in enthusiasm.

"Great! I just need you to wear this costume and we'll be good to go." Yang slipped in as she barely lifted part of the costume out of her bag before quickly covering it up again.

"Whoa, wait a second, what costume?"

Sighing, Yang pulled the whole costume out of her backpack for Jaune to see.

"Nope. There's no way am I wearing that."

"Oh come on, Jaune!" Yang pleaded.

"Why don't you wear it?" Jaune inquired. "It is your campaign after all."

"It doesn't fit me." Yang lied. "Besides I'm showing up later in the film, which would just make things confusing."

"I'm still not wearing that and humiliating myself."

"How do you know it will be humiliating? Remember the 1st year dance?" Yang was now thinking on the spot.

"What about it?"

"You wore that dress, remember what happened next? Oh yeah, you got a dance with Pyrrha and have been closer with her ever since."

"I don't think it was just because I wore a dress." Jaune defended.

"Well, the dress was definitely part of it." Yang countered, trying her hardest to make some semblance of a logical case for the costume: "It showed Pyrrha that you had character and guts. Now imagine how she'd react if she saw you starring in a film with this." Yang held up the costume again with a cheesy open smile.

Jaune looked at the costume once more, still feeling uneasy. "You really think it will make me look gutsy?"

"Absolutely." Yang replied.

Jaune paused and closed his eyes, knowing he was probably going to regret this decision, slowly exhaled and said: "Okay. I—"

"Great, thanks Jaune!" Yang quickly leapt up from her chair and started leaving the food hall before Jaune could be given time to change his mind. "I'll see you outside the front of the academy at 6pm tomorrow; you're fine with doing it at that time, right? Okay, bye!"

* * *

Weiss gathered her things as the first of her morning classes ended and started to make her way towards the assembly hall. The heiress looked over the new red posters of her opponent on the walls of the corridors. _At least she's making some sort of effort now._ While Weiss certainly had no real problem with a one-sided election, she'd prefer it if her opposition actually did something rather than nothing since she wouldn't really be competing or feel like she was earning a victory against anyone if they didn't actually try. Entering the assembly hall, Weiss smiled as she spotted her partner sitting at the opposite end of the hall.

"I see you actually made it this time." Weiss teased as she sat next to Ruby.

"I do have a memory, Weiss." Ruby replied.

Unable to think of a good enough response in time, Weiss opted to stay quiet as she saw Professor Goodwitch about to begin the assembly. _Well at least Ruby is here this week and wasn't around for last's week's humiliation._

"Good morning, students." Goodwitch gave her usual opening to her assembly. "Before we begin this assembly properly, one of the candidates in the Student Council Presidential Election has requested to show you all a short film to promote her campaign."

 _What?_ Weiss' former upbeat mood turned to one of unease as she saw Yang positioning an expensive, advanced film projector towards the stage, turn off the lights then pull down a large projector screen on the stage. The heiress gritted her teeth not sure of what was to come but knowing it was not going to be anything pleasant.

The film on screen began showing the sun in a clear blue sky then slowly panned to a vast green field grazed by a number of sheep as the narrator Weiss immediately identified to be Yang began to speak:

"Dedication, Discipline, Destiny, these are three traits that undeniably make for a great leader." Yang's voice seemed peaceful initially, almost even merry at times. "Leaders such as Weiss Schnee who claim to bring about great change and that they'll inspire us to make a difference as we train to become hunters. People who we place our trust in and who place themselves on a pedestal so high that nothing could possibly cause them to fall and collapse... Right?"

The camera panned up from the field as dark clouds now filled the sky soon followed by numerous the loud echoing booms of thunder and a sudden lightning strike. Yang's voice now took on a more serious and aggressive tone as she resumed narrating:

"Nothing, like for example, the fact that Weiss Schnee only managed to get a C grade overall in her 1st and 2nd year history modules. Is this really the same person who places such an importance on the history of hunters? She barely seemed dedicated enough to pass history."

The heiress drew a little blood as she pressed her nails hard against the palm of her hands and tried to maintain a neutral expression as she was well aware that numerous students from the crowd were turning to look at how she was reacting to this film.

"This is also the same person who has been known to taunt and berate her fellow students on numerous occasions including the very first time she met her current partner, Ruby Rose. That does not seem to fit the behaviour of a well-disciplined person."

Weiss briefly turned to see her partner who now had a nervous look on her face.

"Thirdly, this is a person who claims that they are born great and wishes to continue her family's legacy. Would this include continuing the mistreatment and discrimination of Faunus workers that the Schnee Dust Company is known for?"

Weiss was tempted to just stand up and leave right there but she felt like that would just exacerbate matters so she remained where she was sitting as she continued to watch this embarrassment unfold.

The video cut from the black sky back to the flock of sheep in the field but there now also appeared to be a particularly large sheep moving back and forth in the background as Yang's narration continued:

"Perhaps one crucial element that Weiss Schnee lacks is honesty."

The film suddenly began to zoom in on the large sheep that dramatically turned its head to the camera to reveal the face of a Grimm and that it was actually Jaune in a rather lousy sheep costume and Grimm mask.

"This candidate who attempts to gain our trust through a mere association with respected figures and her own deception. Trying to make people believe she is something that she is not."

The film now cut to various shots of Sheep Jaune running up to various sheep trying to seem intimidating while the actual sheep themselves seemed rather ignorant of the apparent threat or simply disinterested.

"Like a Grimm in Sheep's clothing. Is this the only sort of candidate we can hope for? If only there was another candidate, a candidate who didn't talk down to students, a candidate who we could trust. Maybe there is another way..."

A bright light began to fill the screen until there was nothing else visible; the light soon faded to a shot of Yang handing out fliers to students in the corridor.

"For a straightforward candidate you can trust: Vote Yang."

To Weiss' horror, the rest of the hall erupted in cheers and applause as the film ended.

"Weiss, are you alright?" Ruby asked though she earned no response from the heiress who just continued to look blankly ahead of her as the applauding eventually died down enough for Goodwitch to continue with the rest of the assembly.

Feeling greatly agitated for the second consecutive assembly in a row, Weiss began to leave the hall with the rest of the students, hoping to find some momentary solace alone in her team room. The heiress stopped herself when she spotted someone she now had been meaning to ask a few questions by her locker.

"Hey, Velvet." Weiss tried to appear as friendly and polite as possible although it didn't seem to have much effect on the Faunus.

"Hi, Weiss." Velvet returned the greeting apathetically.

"I was just wondering: it looked like the equipment Yang had used for her little film had a lot of similarities to your own." Weiss maintained her friendly tone but it was clear she was not terribly happy right now. "If I remember correctly when I asked you if I could borrow any camera of yours for my interview you said you didn't want to get involved in the election."

"I meant what I said, Weiss, I didn't want to get involved, that is, until I saw your interview where you seemed to act proud of everything your family has done including what their interactions with Faunus then I thought you deserved what was coming to you." Velvet explained.

"I didn't mean it that way!" Weiss replaced her friendly façade with a look of unbridled fury.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you showed it to everyone." Velvet began to leave until the heiress quickly walked in front of her, blocking her way.

"No, this is not fair, you're not just going to help someone slander me like this because of a simple misunderstanding."

Velvet just maintained her neutral expression for a moment, showing no signs of being intimidated then spoke: "You're going to leave me alone now, Weiss, and you're not even going to try to get me involved in your campaign again."

"Why's that?"

"I was there on May 24th, remember? Do you want anyone else to know about it?"

The heiress bit the inside of her cheek and deepened her frown at Velvet before groaning and walking back in the direction of her dorm. _Okay, Weiss, just try to focus on the open debate tomorrow, things will improve there._

* * *

Blake had to confess that she was rather impressed with how her partner had improved her campaign over the last few days. While she was skeptical when she first heard about Yang's idea for her short film, it definitely caught people's attention and seemed to get Yang's message across as there were significantly more people attending today's open debate than last week's. Yang also seemed to be more than holding her own against Weiss this time as well, probably thanks to all the preparation Blake and Yang did for this. Since the weekend, the two students took virtually any opportunity they had when neither Ruby nor Weiss were around to practice and revise potential answers for likely questions either the students or the heiress would have for Yang. Blake had also noticed her partner seemed to be acting a bit more flirtatious around her recently, not that she was complaining though a little part of her just wanted them to start going out already; Blake was more than willing to keep this little exchange with Yang going especially if it meant there would be more opportunities to try to fluster her partner. Blake turned her attention back to Yang explaining her idea to the crowd:

"So it should now be clear that the specific rule tournaments that I plan to hold if I become Student Council President should help students truly 'adapt' in a safe and controlled environment which is not something one can do on their own, it's not the brightest idea to go wandering into the Emerald Forest without any weapons or pick a random fight with someone with low Aura and not the right safety equipment." Yang took a moment to breathe before reciting the rest of her memorised speech: "In contrast, my opponent's main idea with teaching history is something anyone can do on their own simply through their own research or just asking the teachers around the academy themselves."

"How are your tournaments any different to the training we get at this academy already?" Weiss asked then quickly added: "You also mention safety precautions and equipment yet you want students to continue fighting at low Aura levels?"

Yang let out a small tut in response before she answered: "I already explained that what I plan to do involves trying to broaden a student's fighting style rather than trying to purely focus on enhancing and refining it like the academy does. For example, it'd be like you trying to fight without your dust and rapier. I also already said that I don't actually plan on making students continue to fight once their Aura gets too low, I plan on making them fight as if their Aura was already too low, like a simulation so again using you as an example, you wouldn't be able to use any of your glyphs in this kind of a fight." To Yang and her partner's surprise, Weiss did not appear to find any more criticisms to air to the idea so Yang just brought up her next subject: "Another part of the academy I plan to change should I become Student Council President is the student council itself. For too long, the student council has not been about what it claims to be doing which is helping the majority of students with their problems or listening to what they want. All it has been recently is something for certain students to use to claim they are above others and to feel more important about themselves while getting more control and an increased likelihood of achieving their own wants above everyone else. This is why I plan to introduce an open poll for any student to be able to vote for what the student council get to discuss in their meetings and a suggestion box for students to anonymously suggest their own ideas for the council to consider."

"All those things would do is slow down any progress the student council could make on achieving greater ideas for the academy." Weiss countered. "If the council was to take the time to listen to every single student's opinion in the academy, they wouldn't be able to get anything done."

"It's only to the students who actually have an opinion that wants to be heard and wants to get involved in this, we're not going to pester those who simply don't care and who are you to say what ideas are greater? How would you know that the ideas the students outside the council suggest would be any less beneficial than your own?"

"I'm not saying that."

"What are you saying then?"

"I... I meant that... In the grand scheme of things..."Weiss couldn't find any more words to say so she diverted her attention away from the crowd to the floor of the stage next to her feet.

"You do then, don't you? You just assume that your ideas are naturally better than anyone else's."

"No. I just... I—"

"You just don't want a poll or a suggestion box because you fear they would prevent you from getting what you want." Yang interrupted.

"I already said that implementing those would just slow the council down. This has nothing to do with what I want."

"What about these 'greater ideas' you just mentioned?"

Weiss just stayed silent before finally turning to Goodwitch: "Isn't it about time for the crowd to ask some questions?"

Yang smirked in response. After responding to a number of predictable questions from the crowd followed by Goodwitch putting an end to this week's open debate, Yang took a few seconds to reflect on what just happened: not only did she arrive on time, not only did she actually explain her ideas somewhat competently but she actually caught the crazy-prepared heiress off-guard. Yang would not have believed this to be possible if she wasn't there to witness it herself and it was all thanks to her partner: the person who took all the time she needed to help prepare for this debate, staying patient throughout all her repetitive or dumb questions and never at any point seemed to doubt the brawler's capability. Without a second thought, Yang rushed towards Blake on the opposite side of the hall and lifted her up in a tight hug. "You're amazing, you know that?"

After noticing no reaction from her partner, Yang reluctantly put her partner down and released her hold to see Blake's bewildered expression, the rest of her body appeared to be fixed in place, only the Faunus' eyes jolting from side to side indicated any sign of life. This was good enough for Yang who kept beaming at Blake who was still struggling to find the right words to say.

What neither of the two students noticed were their other two teammates observing them from the opposite side of the hall. The heiress pouted. "I should've known that Blake helped her!" As Weiss started to walk on over to her opponents she felt a tug on her sleeve.

"Weiss, please, I don't want any more fighting in the team, can we just try to look past this?"

Murmuring a little at Ruby's request and melancholic expression, Weiss turned away from her other two teammates and began walking towards the exit with her partner. Yang may have taken the advantage now but it was not going to stay that way if a certain heiress had something to do with it.


	5. Heating Up

The next week of Weiss Schnee's presidential campaign did not go as she had hoped. Her fellow students just didn't seem as interested in what she offered in comparison to her opponent, no matter what kind of way Weiss tried to spin it. While the heiress was better prepared for the 3rd open debate than the previous one so was Yang who once again seemed to be one step ahead of her which was in no doubt because of her partner who apparently 'doesn't want to get dragged into this'. Weiss sat in the team room with only Ruby keeping her company as they discussed ideas to turn her campaign around.

"How about we reveal some stuff about Yang?" Weiss suggested.

"No, Weiss." Ruby remained adamant in her effort to not let this conflict between her two teammates escalate any further.

"It would only be fair after her little film she made on me."

"You weren't exactly singing her praises in that interview we made either."

"All of Yang's video was dedicated to making me look bad, most of the time in my interview I just promoted my ideas and myself."

"Well, why don't we keep it that way rather than just trying to make Yang look bad? Besides, I don't think we should tempt her to reveal any more information she has on you. She could tell people what happened on May—"

"She would never do that!" Weiss appeared visibly annoyed just at the mention of the incident.

"I agree but do you really want to test that belief?" Ruby had a serious tone to her voice as she delivered her question to the heiress.

Weiss looked away from her partner for a few seconds then in a defeatist manner spoke: "Fine. Do you have any particular ideas about what we should do now?"

Ruby smiled. "I'm glad you asked. Okay, I think we have spent enough time on promoting what you plan to actually do, I think we should look more at promoting you as a person. I don't mean by using any more films or posters or anything like that to describe yourself but proving to other people that you're the awesome person I know you are."

Weiss did not appear to be comforted by her partner's words. "That hasn't exactly gone well for me so far, all that talking about myself and my family has done is make more people irritated at me."

"That's because you're not backing up anything you're saying, Weiss. Look, I'm not saying you need to do some great big act of kindness to everyone, just try to be more open with people like you have been with me and our team and for once try to not get riled up so easily."

"Hey!"

"You're just proving my point there." Ruby grinned.

Weiss left the discussion with her partner and started walking towards her next class feeling a bit frustrated that her campaign didn't have a more specific direction but perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing. Now that Weiss really thought about it, this election and all the preparation she had done for it did not make the past two weeks any easier, if anything it was a detriment. Maybe taking a few days to try to relax and not focus on the election could actually work. Weiss continued to contemplate this for a few more seconds until she inadvertently bumped into a familiar student in the corridor.

"Oh, sorry, Coco, my mind was somewhere else." Weiss politely explained.

"No problem, Ice Queen." Coco replied. "You weren't the only one distracted; this stupid assignment on Dust properties has been bugging me for the past few days."

Weiss bit the inside of her cheek to try to maintain a neutral expression. _Why do people have to call me that?! Wait, remember what Ruby said..._ "Oh, it's on Dust properties? I could help with that if you want. I don't have much planned for today after my classes."

Coco appeared to be pleasantly taken aback. "Well, any help would be great, Weiss. How does 4pm at the library sound?"

"That's fine by me." Weiss answered.

"See you there." Coco smiled before she resumed walking to her classroom. "Thanks for the help, Ice Queen!"

Weiss rolled her eyes as she returned to walking in the opposite direction towards her next class. _See, that wasn't so hard, was it?_ After the heiress went about the rest of her classes as usual, she met up with Coco at the library as planned. As Weiss expected, Coco just had a few common misconceptions about the combinations of certain types of Dust. After clearing up a few of Coco's errors and answering any other questions she had on the topic, Weiss noticed Nora out of the corner of her eye watching on from the other side of the library. Weiss turned to greet her boisterous friend: "Hi, Nora, need help with anything?"

"Hey, Weiss." Nora was acting timid in comparison to her usual self. "I've just been kind of struggling with this essay on Semblances for a while, Pyrrha and Ren have been helping a lot but they obviously have their own assignments to deal with as well. I figured if anyone would be on top of all their assignments and have time to spare it would be you."

"You'd be right about that." Coco replied cheerfully on behalf of the heiress before standing up from her chair. "Thanks for all the help today, Weiss."

"You're welcome, Coco. If you want help with anything else just let me know."

"Well, I wasn't going to mention it but to be honest all of my team are having problems with at least one assignment whether it's on Dust, Semblances, Grimm Anatomy, Aura, History—"Coco stopped herself as she realised she was beginning to ramble. "Anyway, I don't want to take up all of your time to just help me and my team but if you really don't mind, we could sure do with a bit of help."

Weiss opened her mouth to offer an alternative option but quickly closed it as she got an idea: _You wanted something to turn your campaign around, didn't you? Are you seriously not going to take this opportunity?_ "Well, I doubt I'd be able to help with all of that at once, so we should probably try to arrange some separate meetings. Oh and Nora, I'd be glad to help you or any of your teammates with assignments. I just need some sort of schedule so I can focus on a few select topics at a time." As Weiss started to arrange future meeting times with Coco and Nora she remained doubtful about how much of an effect doing this would have on the election results but she was willing to give anything a shot at this point.

* * *

Yang couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself as she started walking towards the library for her scheduled meeting with Blake. After the success of their first meeting, Yang and Blake figured it only made sense to continue having them at the library on Saturday and Sunday mornings although Yang managed to be late on every single occasion, until today. Not only is she arriving on time for her meeting with Blake, she's actually going to be there early and before her partner, rare occurrences like this were something to celebrate. Yang did find it a bit odd that a certain heiress appeared to have also decided to have an early start today judging by her absence from the team room when she woke up but the brawler just chalked it up to some sort of campaign preparation. Yang checked a nearby clock and the amount of lien in her pockets then decided she'd probably be able to manage a quick detour to the coffee machine and still have some time to spare. Now that Yang really thought about it, her opponent hasn't really talked about the election in the past few days and she hasn't been that grating on her either, hopefully this was a sign of things to come. After getting some coffee, Yang walked up to the entrance of the library only to hear the person she was just thinking about ahead of her:

"And that's why Semblances are only sometimes hereditary but in other cases randomly determined."

Yang slowly leaned her head just past the end of a nearby bookcase and peered across the room to find Weiss with Team CFVY and Nora all gathered around a table making notes. _So that's what she's been doing all this time._ The brawler didn't have more time to think about this discovery until she heard another recognisable voice behind her:

"Hey, you made it on time." Blake brightly greeted her partner as she entered the library but her expression changed to one of slight confusion when she noticed her partner was not moving or responding to her greeting. "What's going on, Yang?"

Yang did not give a verbal answer to Blake's question at first but simply turned to face her before she motioned for her to come closer and pointed in the direction of the table occupied by the heiress. "It looks like our secret spot has been compromised." Yang whispered to Blake coquettishly.

Blake rolled her eyes in response. "I'm sure there are plenty of other areas where we can talk. Come on, let's go." The Faunus proceeded to leave the library with her partner close behind where they eventually settled down on two of the spare chairs around the otherwise empty assembly hall.

After sitting down and having a few sips of coffee, Yang was the first to speak up: "So what are we going to do about this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Weiss' new tactic for getting votes with her little study group."

"Oh. Um, nothing?"

"Huh?"

"I don't see why we have to do anything, Yang. Sure, Weiss helping out some students might swing a few more votes her way but most students seem to be more attracted to your ideas."

"Well, it wasn't just me, Blake; you had some very attractive ideas yourself." Yang smirked.

Blake found herself caught between wanting to firmly plant the palm of her hand on her face and suppressing a small grin, unfortunately her partner seemed to catch her doing the latter and started to giggle. No longer bothering with her attempt at holding back her amused expression, Blake waited for Yang to finish her cute laughing before getting back on track: "Anyway, I don't think we need to react to what Weiss is doing, the only reason you entered this election was because of her attitude and it doesn't look like you have been having much trouble with her recently."

"Sure but that doesn't mean it'll stay that way if she wins. I know I initially did this just because Weiss was irritating as hell but now I want to win for reasons beyond that: I actually think our ideas would actually help students out if they were used and that I could even be a half-decent Student Council President if a certain charming, good-looking and intelligent individual would assist me."

Blake gave her partner a small smile. "I'll be happy to help where I can but first we need to actually win this."

"Exactly which is why we should do something else for our campaign."

"Well, if you really want to do something then just keep playing to your strengths, Yang. You were more than capable of organising the dance the past two years."

"This year's dance isn't for another few months, Blake, that won't work."

Now Blake really did put her palm across her face. "I know that, Yang but don't you think there are other scenarios where those skills could come in use like at a party?"

"So you're saying I should just throw a random party?"

"You could throw a random party or you could actually look at a calendar."

"What?" The brawler was now confused.

"Yang: what is the date today?"

"The 26th."

"So what will the date be on Thursday?"

Yang paused for a few brief seconds until she suddenly realised what her partner was constantly hinting at. "Ooooooooooh."

* * *

Weiss let out a small yawn as she started to walk towards her first class of the week. The extra sessions she had spent in the library helping fellow students out in the past few days had been tiring but she would always welcome an opportunity to help out her peers. There was also the other reason Weiss was helping people out and this was the cause of a great number of irritating thoughts for the heiress: _Should I have mentioned the election at all? Would it have appeared to the students that the only reason I was helping them out is to get their votes if I mentioned it? Was it insincere to not mention it at all since it was one of the reasons I helped them out in the first place? Aren't all these questions kind of pointless since every single student in the academy is likely aware of the fact I'm running for Student Council President so it wouldn't be hard for them to put two and two together and establish their own opinions on it?_

Weiss' internal questioning was interrupted as she noticed a bunch of bright purple posters on the corridors' walls that she had not seen before. The heiress walked up to one of the purple posters to see what its first few lines read: "Yang's Halloween Costume Spooktacular! Thursday, October 31st, 7pm-Midnight. Fun Filled Night with Free Food and Drink. All Students Welcome. Costumes are Compulsory."

Weiss frowned. _Of course she'd resort to something like this._ The heiress' mood did not improve when she read the stated location of the party. _She's actually doing it at our dorm? She could not have possibly decided on another place to have it? Well, so much for having an early sleep on Thursday._

As much as she tried to look past her irritation at Yang's party plan as the next couple of days passed, Weiss found that the more she tried to avoid thinking about it, the more it started to bug her. All of this work she had made in preparing her campaign: writing and delivering speeches, producing promotional films and posters, finding new and creative ways to help students at the academy; all of that would be undone by some stupid party she had little choice but to be a part of. _'Yang's Halloween Costume Spooktacular?' More like 'Yang's let's celebrate my upcoming victory and rub it in the face of my opponent for good measure.'_ Before Weiss had time to think of a more succinct, grammatically correct title, her partner caught her attention:

"Weiss, are you there? Hello?"

Weiss' eyes wandered briefly before she looked at Ruby. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was asking if you wanted the feedback from the survey you wanted me to do."

"Oh, um, sure."

"So like you requested: I 'nonchalantly' asked all of the people you recently helped with their assignments about how they felt about it and they all seemed genuinely grateful for what you did and with the smaller sample where you asked me to mention the election as to being a possible reason for why you helped them, none of them seemed to mind."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. "What about the other topic?"

Ruby stopped looking directly at her partner and paused for a few seconds before she continued: "From the sample of students I asked: they are all are planning on attending the party but I mean that's to be expected, Weiss, there's a big Halloween party every year." Ruby's attempt to comfort the heiress fell on deaf ears as Weiss' expression went from cautious optimism to sombre resignation in an instant. As her partner started walking to her podium for the week's open debate, Ruby made one last attempt to get something through to Weiss: "Please just try to focus on the progress you've made and not Yang." Hoping that Weiss would listen to her words, Ruby sat among the crowd as Goodwitch began the debate.

The debate started promisingly as the heiress made her opening statement: "Acting as a representative and a voice for a large group of people does not mean one should only listen to what the majority of people say or take actions which help the group in general, important as that is to take into account. To be a true representative one must also take into account the less popular opinions and consider them to be no less valid even if they are directly in contention with other people's ideals and use time to look into individuals in this group and their own unique problems. This is something I have demonstrated recently by taking the time to help some fellow students in expanding their knowled—"

Yang let out an audible snicker causing Weiss to stop her speech and look towards the brawler.

Ruby cringed. _Oh no, please don't do this, you two._

"Is there something you want to say that is so important that you can't wait for me to finish?" Weiss addressed her opponent.

"I just find it interesting that you happened to start helping students out when you seemed to run out of ideas to get people to vote for you. Oh and that comment about taking individuals into account kind of contradicts your argument here two weeks ago about not wanting students to have more of a say in what the student council actually discusses." Yang answered with a deadpan expression.

Weiss reciprocated the gesture."The student council is more than capable of discussing and actively responding to the less universally held opinions students in this academy have in its current form, along with meeting an individual student's needs whatever they may be. I also find it rather rich that you criticise the timing of my methods, when you decide to host a large Halloween party a week before the end of this election."

"Would you prefer if I hosted one a month after Halloween? A Halloween party is hosted every year; I just thought it would be fitting to host it this time. I've also organised many other parties, dances or big events throughout my time here at the academy." Yang defended.

"In the same vein I have helped and advised students with their academic issues on countless occasions since the start of my time here at Beacon and you, of all people can't deny that." Weiss retorted. "While my campaign has a consistent message in promoting the value of knowledge, yours just seems to promote more ways to fight, in an academy where we are already training to become hunters and partying because partying is so important to becoming a hunter."

"Not everything one does has to be a learning experience, there are times when one needs to just unwind and actually try to get some enjoyment out of what they're doing. Now that I think about it, a party would be a great learning experience for someone like you, Weiss."

The rest of the debate as Ruby had feared essentially consisted of her teammates trading thinly veiled petty insults and bickering back and forth. With the drawn-out squabble finally over, the two candidates exchanged no more words and simply walked up to their respective partners. Ruby was unsure of what to say to Weiss following what just happened so she opted to not say anything and pray that this sort of altercation would not occur again.

* * *

Yang was pleasantly surprised by the turnout of students who showed up to her party, she expected a large number to show up but she didn't think every available room on the floor to be so crowded and lively. The brawler had previously asked the other teams on her floor if they'd allow her to use their rooms for the party in exchange for some free snacks and drinks for the night. None of the teams had a problem with the deal which was likely for the best since if this many people showed up to the party and there were only had 1 or 2 rooms to occupy there probably wouldn't be much space to breath. Yang was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and red shorts which shared the colour of her knee high boots and cape, one of the more basic costumes compared to what she saw many of the other students wearing. However, what caught the brawler's eyes most of all was a dark figure and flicker of amber she saw make its way through the large group of students dancing to the almost blaring music in the room. Finally seeing her partner now fully emerge from the crowd, Yang saw Blake dressed in a black hooded robe with a matching belt and pants. The only two signs that indicated to the brawler that this person was in fact her partner were the aforementioned exposed amber eyes and the two small but noticeable, pointed bumps on top of the hood which resembled the shapes of a certain Faunus' ears.

"Hi," Blake greeted her partner. "Sorry, I'm a little later than I said I'd be, those assignments took a bit longer to do than I thought."

"No problem, Blake, just glad you're here now. I must admit, I did not expect you to wear this to the party."

"Is there something wrong with it?" Blake asked with some concern.

"Oh no, it's not that." Yang quickly cleared up the misinterpretation. "It's just that you're a hard enough person to read even when you don't have most of your face covered up. You have no idea how many times when we're talking with friends or just with each other that I wonder what you're really thinking."

"Oh really?" Blake decided to pursue her partner's sudden and surprising level of openness while at the same time started to wonder about the content of the drinks at the party.

"Yep." Yang succinctly replied. "But I like to think that I've become pretty good at reading you."

"Okay, what am I thinking now then?" Blake challenged.

Yang narrowed her eyes and focused them on her partner's own as if this was required for some sort of telepathic act. "Hmm... You're thinking that I'm going to indirectly compliment myself through this when in reality I'm being sincere." The brawler stated matter-of-factly.

Blake's eyes widened slightly and her ears appeared to perk up through her costume's hood. "Not bad."

Yang grinned, satisfied with her accurate prediction.

"Why do you wonder about what I think about?" Blake asked with genuine curiosity.

"I guess... I just sometimes worry about you. At times I worry that maybe you're not enjoying yourself around the academy and that I might be partially responsible for that. I know I might be a bit overbearing when I try to get you to join in with some things or try to learn more about you. I should probably just let you do your own thing and try not to interfere as much." Yang paused realising the damper she had just put on the mood between her and Blake, she quickly tried to lighten the tone: "Or if my puns aren't actually that funny."

"Yang, I am nothing but thankful for all that you've done for me these past two years. I know would my time here would not be anywhere near as enjoyable as it has been if you didn't make me get involved with the rest of the team. I know I can act sensitive about my past," Blake walked up closer to Yang until the space between their faces amounted to only a couple inches then spoke in a sultry manner: "But with the right person, I am willing to reveal much more of myself."

Now it was Yang's eyes which widened as the brawler found the rest of her body stuck in place from shock though at the same time she was confident that her jaw was probably going to fall off any second now. Yang was tempted to ask Blake to repeat her last line just to make sure that she wasn't hearing things until the Faunus quickly spoke once more:

"You are right about one thing though, your puns are awful." Blake smirked.

Snapping out of her shock, Yang gave a small frown out of mock-offense though she was more irritated at herself for letting Blake tease her like this. Yang needed to up her game.

As Yang and Blake continued their conversation, their two other teammates were having one of their own in the room next door. Ruby was wearing a tall black pointed hat and a dress about two sizes too big for her. Her less enthusiastic partner was wearing a plain white dress with large feathered wings attached on each side along with a wire placing a bright ring above her head.

"Do you want another drink?" Ruby asked her partner.

"No." Weiss answered flatly.

"Come on, Weiss, can you at least try to enjoy yourself here?"

"You're the one who made me wear this," Weiss groaned. "I've already done enough for today and I don't get why you didn't just wear your regular combat skirt for your costume."

"Where's the fun in that?" Ruby retorted. "Besides, I think it really suits you."

"One thing that doesn't suit me is this music. I think I'm going to see if there's a room that's a bit quieter." The heiress then began checking each room on the floor to see if there was one to her liking with her partner not far behind.

Back in the other room, Yang who was currently very happy where she was, continued talking to Blake about the subject of thoughts: "I know I could do with thinking things through a bit more at times but there have also been many occasions where I just act on instincts and things work out just fine."

"I'm not denying that, Yang. I just find it kind of amusing that you can't think of any specific examples right now besides when you fight."

"Okay," Yang now had a determined look on her face, "you want an example. I'll give you one right now."

Blake was thankful that her costume covered most her face since it meant Yang was not be able to see her nervous expression as she approached her. It also meant that Yang did not see Blake's disappointment as she walked past her.

Yang walked up to the biggest available open space in the room she could find that was directly next to the large crowd dancing to the music then shouted: "If you want more parties like this then vote for Yang as your president!" There were a few cheers which could be heard from the crowd but most students didn't respond and just kept dancing to the music.

Blake shrugged at her partner's actions, it was not something she would have advised Yang to do but she figured that was kind of the point, then again, no harm seemed to come from it. Blake started looking around the room to try to find exactly where her partner had actually gone but instead found her two other teammates, Ruby who had looked extremely troubled and Weiss who appeared irate. _Crap._

Yang finally managed to find Blake again on the other side of the room but as she started to approach her, she heard another teammate's voice behind her.

"It's really pathetic."

Turning around, Yang saw a furious Weiss glaring at her before noticing a visibly tense Ruby behind the heiress. As Blake quickly walked the short distance to join the rest of her team, Yang responded to Weiss: "Excuse me?"

"What you're doing right now, it's pathetic." Weiss bluntly stated.

As her residing frustrations with her teammate were brought back to her mind, Yang returned the hostile tone in kind: "Don't even get me started on who is really being pathetic, Weiss."

"Oh please, do explain what great injustices I have done to you."

"Well for one thing: you constantly insulted me throughout this election whether it's my 'lack of commitment' or 'inferior intelligence'."

"You insulted me plenty of times during this election as well."

"In response to your own insults, it was fair game to be honest."

"Oh sure, it's all fair if it benefits you, just like how Blake tells me she doesn't want to get involved in this election then she just joins up with you."

The Faunus in question now had a look of sorrow on her face which was not directed at any of her teammates but at the small space between them.

"Hey!" Yang raised her voice. "She was just evening the odds after you got my own sister to side against me since that's not an underhanded tactic at all!"

"She didn't know you were in the election when I first asked her. I thought she told you."

"What? That's news to me."

"It's true." Ruby quietly answered, staring at the floor. "I was initially planning to tell you, Yang but I thought if you knew you would get even angrier at Weiss. I thought it would be for the best if no one else knew. Sorry."

Weiss turned her attention back to Yang: "You can try to act like I'm responsible for all this but the fact is none of this would have happened if you didn't sign up to run in this election in the first place."

"I'm aware of that, Weiss, what you don't seem to understand is that I signed up for this as a last resort."

"What?"

"Ever since I started being a part of the student council you have just been unbearable, you got even worse when you signed up to be Student Council President, that's why I signed up to run in this, I hoped that if you didn't become president you would become less irritating."

Suddenly all the built-up energy and anger within the heiress came crashing down upon hearing her opponent's motivation and how she caused her apparent friends to feel about her, Weiss now found herself trembling and only just managed to quietly ask: "W-Why didn't you just try to talk to me about it?"

Seeing her teammate's reaction, Yang considerably mellowed her tone but still felt compelled to give an honest explanation: "I tried to, Weiss, but when I did you would not let me finish explaining myself and when I tried to ignore this and move on, you still got worse which made me think this was the only way I could get something through to you."

Weiss hung her head low, no longer being able to look at anyone and quietly spoke up once more: "I need to go." Weiss quickly made her way through the large number of blissfully unaware, dancing students and disappeared from the rest of her team's sight.

After a few lingering seconds, Yang was the first to share her thoughts: "I don't think I'm really in the mood for this kind of thing anymore. I should find somewhere to clear my head." The brawler was good on her word as she quickly walked across the crowd then exited the room leaving her other two teammates at the party.


	6. Cooling Down

Ruby and Blake did not exchange words for a little while following their teammates' departures, both still trying to fully process what they had just witnessed. The team leader finally shared her thoughts: "I really just want this election to end already."

Blake gave her teammate a small smile before remembering that it was not visible through her costume. "This whole election could have gone better but it doesn't have to end this way. We should probably try to find them and talk to them about it, see if we can get them to clear the air."

"Okay, who should we look for first?"

"I'm not sure if it's the best idea for me to be around Weiss right now," Blake explained. "She's probably just as mad with me as she is at Yang. You go talk to Weiss and I'll look for Yang and we can try to persuade them to meet up back here later."

"Got it."

Their plan now set, Ruby and Blake left the room and began looking for their respective partners in opposite directions.

As Blake left the party she started thinking about possible places Yang could've gone to: _Alright, the classrooms would all be locked at this time and I don't think she'd be at the library because she would know that Weiss might now be there. Okay, what's a place that Yang would know Weiss would not be where she could also 'clear her head'?_ A possible answer to the question entered the Faunus' mind who then proceeded to walk up the nearest set of stairs. As she opened the door to the rooftop, Blake found her suspicion to be confirmed as she spotted the back of her partner who was looking out in the direction of The Emerald Forest.

"It's quite a nice view, isn't it?" Blake tried to lower any possible tension remaining in her partner after the incident in Weiss.

Yang jolted a little as she suddenly realised she was no longer alone then turned to face her partner. "I should've known you'd be able to sneak up on me."

"I like to think I've become pretty good at reading you."

Yang grinned. "Yeah, I guess you have."

Blake walked up closer to her partner and briefly took in the view before resuming the conversation. "I know Weiss hasn't made things easy for either of us recently but she does ultimately have good intentions as a potential president or an actual friend even if she has an odd way of showing it. She did also make some valid points: we haven't exactly been perfect either."

"I know that, Blake, but like I said to Weiss earlier, when I tried to settle things she just made things worse. No method I tried seemed to work."

"Well, maybe it wasn't just Weiss' fault. I know you tried but it's also true that each time she presented you with an opportunity to get angry, you took it instead of actually letting it go."

"That's not—" Yang paused and reflected on each time she tried to resolve or look past her tension with the heiress. "Okay, maybe you have a point there but you were also the one who told me to try to ignore the problems I was having with her and wait for it to pass."

"I know and that was my own mistake. One thing I have always respected about Weiss is that she would always tell people how she felt about them upfront, to their face. I think we just need to take a page out of her book and stop avoiding the issue. I still want us all to be friends when this is over."

"Yeah, you're right." Yang admitted. "Thanks for coming to talk."

"No problem, Yang."

"I guess a whole lot of crap could have been avoided if I really put some effort into trying to resolve things with Weiss."

"Sure but it hasn't all been bad," Blake countered. "I honestly think you'd make for a good president, Yang and I have really enjoyed all the time I spent with you helping your campaign."

Yang smiled. "The feeling is mutual, Blake."

After looking around nearly every available room in the academy, Ruby eventually found Weiss sitting alone in an open field behind the academy staring at the night sky. Relieved that she finally managed to find her partner and that she no longer needed to do any more running around in her unwieldy costume, Ruby started to slowly approach her partner. The heiress continued to gaze upon the stars longingly even when Ruby was confident that she had become aware of her presence. Sitting down next to Weiss, Ruby spent a few seconds to think of what to say while also taking in her surroundings. Feeling the cool, dampened blades of grass on her fingertips and watching the lights from the lofty, imposing buildings off in the distance all situated in a sharp, overbearing stillness, Ruby finally decided to speak:

"So I guess I'll have to wait for the next party to ask you for a dance."

Weiss remained silent for a little while before she slowly and bitterly stated: "The only reason our teammates went against me is because they hate me so much that they want to ruin something I care about."

"They don't hate you, Weiss!" Ruby pleaded. "Their motives may have been a bit out of place at first, sure but I do think they genuinely believe in what they campaign for now. You know what Yang is like, she'd be the first to admit she can act without thinking at times and Blake often keeps her thoughts to herself. I don't know about you but I miss having fun with all our team, Weiss."

"If I've really been as annoying and insufferable as they said I've been then why didn't you ever get mad with me? I know there was that time when I didn't tell you about Yang being in the election which I understand but that didn't even last long and besides that, you always seemed to be able to put up with me."

"Well, nobody's perfect, Weiss." Ruby chuckled. "I mean, yes, your temper is not the greatest and there are times where you skew your priorities a bit but there's also everything else about you: the fact that when you care about doing something, you put absolutely everything you can into getting that thing done; how open you have been to me and the rest of our team about your past and your feelings and yet there's still more I want to know about you; how you are always willing to help me or anyone else out whether it's on assignments or more personal issues, you're always there to offer a hand. I've always looked up to you for all of that."

The heiress still looked upon the stars in the sky as she quietly replied: "That still doesn't really explain why you never got mad at me."

Ruby slowed down her breathing for a moment before she softly answered: "I... I think you know why, Weiss."

Weiss finally directed her attention away from the sky and straight to her partner who was solemnly looking back at her. As the students' blue and silver eyes met, for a brief point in time everything else seemed meaningless in comparison to the person sitting next to them. The world around them now insignificant, their fears and concerns fading away, the hopes and desires of the young leader now on full display only to be swiftly extinguished as the heiress stood up and returned to stargazing.

"I still don't know if I can just go back to them and get along like nothing has happened." Weiss abruptly returned the conversation to the original subject.

Ruby's vision began to blur as she dug her fingers into the ground and turned away from the heiress. Expending a lot of effort to stop her lips from trembling, Ruby swallowed some extra air and attempted to explain her thoughts with a normal, clear voice: "I-If you d-don't want to get along with our teammates, c-can you at least try it f-for me?"

Weiss closed her eyes and scrunched her lips; she did not feel particularly proud of herself in that moment. After deeply exhaling through her nose, Weiss opened her eyes and turned to her crestfallen partner before she sincerely answered: "Of course, Ruby."

With the party starting to wind down, Yang and Blake did not need to wait too long for their other two teammates to join them in the room where their little argument had recently taken place. While Weiss looked understandably uncomfortable as she started to approach the brawler, Ruby appeared even more timid and fragile now than how she was when the argument itself was taking place. As the heiress and her partner reached a suitable distance between their other two teammates, an undeniable air of tension still persisted between the two candidates as they traded quiet glances with one another. For a few seconds, none of the team did anything, not knowing how they should act and fearing they might exacerbate matters. Finally, Weiss slowly extended her open hand towards the brawler. Yang just silently looked at her teammates for a few brief seconds; all three of them showing some level of trepidation on their faces then focused on the heiress who did not seem particularly happy but did not appear disingenuous either. Yang extended her own hand and lightly grabbed Weiss' own before shaking it for a few seconds.

* * *

While they were making a step in the right direction, the atmosphere remained uncomfortable between the two candidates for the rest of the party and the days that followed with them only interacting with each other out of basic necessity. Yang returned to using her old method of not saying or doing anything at council meetings with Weiss wisely deciding to not bring this up with her. While Ruby and Blake weren't exactly approving of this plan their teammates employed in dealing with one another, they erred on the side of caution when it came to telling them how they should handle it differently. However, this basic strategy of avoidance would not prove to be an effective one in the long term as the final open debate of the election loomed only a few moments away. After skirting around the issue for the past few days, Ruby finally decided to be straightforward to her partner:

"Please just remember to stay focused and not get caught up in the moment."

"Hey, I haven't said one bad thing about Yang since the party."

"You've barely talked about Yang at all since the party." Ruby pointed out. "I asked you to try to get along with our other teammates and I know it's kind of awkward right now but just staying away from them is not going to help."

"It'll be fine, Ruby," Weiss assured. "I have things under control."

Soon enough, the other half of Team RWBY arrived at the assembly hall with Blake joining Ruby and the other students and Yang walking up to her podium. As Goodwitch began her usual opening words for the debate Ruby whispered to Blake: "So how has Yang been since this morning?"

"She seemed alright though every time I asked her about what she plans to talk about in this debate she didn't tell me anything."

Ruby grimaced. _Weiss didn't want to tell me what she was planning to say either. Well that's just great, we might about to witness another train wreck._ Ruby looked back at Blake. "Do you really have no clue as to what—" The team leader stopped herself as she noticed the open debate was now about to begin properly.

Weiss cleared her throat and began reciting her opening statement: "There have been a number of significant lessons I have learned throughout the time I have been campaigning in this election. For example, I have learned that you can never be too careful with how you word your answers to questions or with how you present yourself; one small oversight can cause a lot of damage to others and your own reputation. On a related note, I have also learned that you should not just make assumptions on the capabilities of people especially if they are yet to be given a chance to really prove themselves." Weiss took a second to briefly look at Yang before looking back to the crowd and continuing. "As much as I have wanted to deny this in recent weeks, I do believe my opponent in this election would make for a good Student Council President. She has demonstrated the ability to produce well thought-out ideas which would be beneficial for students both academically and socially during their time here at Beacon. The main reason I believe I would make for a better choice Student Council President is that I believe I would be better suited for organising and setting up the events I have been planning should I be elected. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Yang would do a competent job organising her own planned events, I just foresee more potential issues with time management in her tournaments, none of which exists in the events I plan to run." After finishing her opening statement, Weiss turned and focused on the front row of the crowd to look at Ruby who was sincerely smiling for what felt like the first time this week, a gesture the heiress gladly reciprocated to her partner.

After giving her opponent a grateful nod, Yang started her opening statement: "I have already mentioned the small tournaments and changes I would make to the council if I become president many times in the past debates so I'm not going to go over them again in detail. Weiss does bring up a good point, it will be difficult for me to manage the tournaments but I do not plan to be managing them on my own, this is the election for the 'Student Council President', not just the 'president' and in order to make the most of my ideas, some level of cooperation will be needed. I've always emphasized the importance of recognising all the students at the academy to be one large community, regardless of differences or whether or not they're in the council which brings me to the main reason why I think you should vote for me: I believe I am slightly more in tune to what most students in the academy want. I really do emphasize the word 'slightly' there. Weiss would make for a great Student Council President; I think we can all recognise that. She mentioned this last week and it's true that she has helped me and countless other students with issues in classes or assignments or something completely unrelated to the academy and you can always trust that you'll get an honest opinion if you were to ask her for advice on anything which are great qualities for someone to have. I just believe that my ideas have a wider appeal and would benefit students more in the long term."

With both candidates having finished their opening statements, Goodwitch addressed the crowd: "Does anyone have any questions?" To the surprise of Goodwitch and both candidates, nobody raised their hand. Goodwitch then turned back to the candidates: "Would either of you like to add anything?"

Both Yang and Weiss remained silent.

Goodwitch turned to face the spectating students one more time. "Alright, that'll be all for this final open debate. A reminder to students: tomorrow the polls to vote for who you want to be Student Council President will be open here from 9am to 5pm."

As the students in the crowd started to disperse, the candidates and their partners gathered just in front of the steps to the stage.

"Thanks." Yang directed towards her opponent.

"Thank you." Weiss replied which was followed by another awkward silence between the team until Yang got an idea:

"Hey, with this open debate finishing early we should have enough time to get some lunch before the next classes begin, do you want to come along?"

"Actually Ruby and I already had some—"

"Weiss!" Ruby interrupted her partner.

"I mean sure, that would be nice." The heiress corrected herself.

The four students then began walking towards the food hall now confident that regardless of what happens in the next 2 days, they would still be together as a team.


	7. And the Winner is

Ruby sat in the food hall with her teammates as she started to make quick work of her 2nd lunch of the day following the surprisingly friendly open debate she just witnessed.

"Hey, they just brought in some extra tuna." Yang returned to the rest of her team and passed a plateful of tuna to her partner before sitting next to her.

"Yang, you really didn't have to."

"Nonsense." Yang swiftly dismissed Blake's protests. "After how awesome you have been for the past few weeks, it's the least I could do for the best partner I could have hoped for." The brawler and Faunus leaned their heads a little closer to one another as they shared a warm smile, an event which did not go unnoticed by the team leader.

Ruby suddenly felt conflicted. While she was happy that Blake and Yang have become so close, she could not help but feel a little low that she did not seem as close to her own partner who was currently occupied with whatever was on her scroll which continued to keep the heiress' attention for the rest of the lunch break. As the time for the afternoon classes approached and the rest of the team began to leave the food hall, Ruby addressed her sister: "Hey, Yang, can I talk to you for a bit?" The serious tone in which she delivered her question to Yang made it clear this intended to be a private conversation.

"Sure, Rubes." After saying a brief goodbye to her other teammates, Yang turned her attention back to her little sister. "What's up?"

"It's just... Weiss," Ruby hesitated, not quite knowing how to word what she wanted to say. Yang waited patiently for her younger sister to continue. "You know how I feel about Weiss."

Yang laughed lightly. "Ruby, I know you've had a thing for Weiss since the start of the 2nd year."

"It's not just that, it's just, well, I've asked her out a few times but each time she keeps finding some sort of reason not to go, she doesn't outright reject me, she always says something like 'I'm busy, maybe another time' but... I don't know if she doesn't want to hurt my feelings or if she is actually interested." Ruby's voice was low and strained as she contorted her face.

Yang instantly stopped laughing after seeing her sister spill her heart out and took on a more serious manner."Well, have you asked her if she's interested?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I guess it's... It's just that, with Weiss it's like," Ruby stopped speaking then groaned at her inability to spit out what she wanted to say before taking a deep breath to calm down. "There are times where it feels like maybe she does see me in a similar way but then there are other times where she can feel so distant. I don't know."

Yang gave her sister a small smile. "Well, you're going to have to ask her, this is Weiss we're talking about, it's no coincidence she keeps finding a reason to not go out with you but that doesn't necessarily mean she isn't interested. You definitely need to be direct to her and don't let her change the subject, get a firm yes or no from her, at least then you'll know where you two stand and can go from there. You owe it to yourself, Ruby."

Ruby started frowning at the floor for a few seconds after hearing her sister's advice but then quickly looked up with a determined expression on her face. "Okay, I'll do it!"

"That's what I like to hear." Yang grinned.

"Oh do you mind if I ask you one more question?"

"What is it?"

"Are you and Blake now a thing?"

Yang's eyebrows rose as she turned away from her sister and quickly took out her scroll. "Huh, well would you look at the time; I'm going to be late for my next class." Yang got up from her seat and began quickly walking to the exit. "Talk to you later, sis!"

Following her older sister's abrupt exit, Ruby let out a small sigh before quietly picking up her bag and heading towards her next class. Ruby knew everything Yang said was true, the last year she spent being interested in her partner only to either repress those feelings or be let down each time she expressed them had been beyond frustrating. Ruby was not sure if she'd be able to keep this up for the next two years; to be outright rejected by her partner would hurt but the sooner she'd find out, the sooner she'd be able to move on, but what if she didn't want to move on? Ruby proceeded to scold herself for trying to find excuses not to talk to Weiss. _Alright, I'll just be direct to Weiss about it first thing tomorrow morning._ Her mind made up, Ruby went about the rest of her daily routine while also internally trying to come up with the right words to say for tomorrow morning.

As the day of voting arrived, Ruby slowly stretched and rubbed the tiredness from her eyes as she got out of bed only to find no sign of Weiss in the bottom bunk or anywhere else in the room. Ruby scowled at the empty bed for a few seconds until she remembered her class schedule. _I'm in the same first class as Weiss today, it may not be ideal but I can ask her then._ After getting ready for the day ahead, Ruby picked up a quick breakfast from the food hall then restlessly headed towards her first class of the day. Entering the classroom, Ruby felt some of the built up tension leave her as she saw her partner looking cheerful as ever looking over some notes.

"Hi, Weiss. Where were you this morning?"

"Hi, Ruby. Oh, I was just doing a bit of extra studying at the library then decided to go cast my vote in the election early."

"Oh, but I thought the polls open at 9 and it's only just," Ruby looked to the clock on the front wall of the classroom before remembering a key detail of her partner's semblance. "Oh, right, time glyphs, got it."

Weiss simply gave her partner a cute grin in response.

"You seem very upbeat today," Ruby noted. "Not at all nervous?"

Weiss shrugged. "Well, we won't actually find anything out until tomorrow and I don't plan on spending all my time today just asking people who they voted for. You actually seem a little more nervous than me to be honest." Weiss pointed her hand to Ruby's own under the desk which was visibly shaking. "Is everything alright?"

"Huh?!" Ruby inadvertently raised her voice, caught off-guard that the person to unwittingly start this dreaded conversation was her partner. _Calm down, Ruby, you can do this, come on._ "It's just that—"

"Good morning, students!" Professor Oobleck suddenly zoomed into the classroom. "Sorry, I'm a little late. Now as I'm sure you all remember today is the day where you are to take your first practice exam paper of the year."

Ruby's eyes widened. _What?!_

Oobleck swiftly started handing out the exam booklets to students, took a quick sip of coffee then continued explaining the standard test procedure: "Now with you all being in the 3rd year I don't think I need to remind you that although this is a practice exam, this is still to be taken under exam conditions so under no circumstances are you allowed to look at any notes you have written down on pieces of paper or any information you have on your scroll or any other device nor are you allowed to communicate with any other students in any form until after this practice exam is over. Is that all clear?" After no students in the room appeared to have any questions, Oobleck looked to the clock in the classroom. "Okay, you have until the end of this class at 10:30am, you may now begin!"

Despite not being prepared for this practice exam at all, Ruby actually found most of the questions in the booklet manageable, what frustrated her more was the person of her affections being right next to her yet the information she longed for remained as far away from her as ever. After double-checking her answers, Ruby looked at the clock once more and sighed upon seeing that there were still 10 minutes of painful silence to sit through, unable to do anything interesting. As the class mercifully reached its end, Ruby along with the rest of the students handed in their booklets to Oobleck and left the classroom.

"Hey, Weiss, about what I was saying earlier," Ruby caught up to her partner who was already briskly walking to her next class that Ruby was not a part of.

The heiress stopped and turned around to face her partner. "Hmm? Oh, don't worry about the practice exam, Ruby, you're one of the smartest students in there and you always do well when it matters, even when you forget to practice for it beforehand." Weiss appeared to maintain her playful mood from earlier even after the long, dull class she just had.

Ruby probably would have been taken aback by the compliment if she wasn't so focused on asking the heiress for answers. "Oh, no. It's not that, Weiss."

"It's not?"

"No, what I wanted to say is that—"Ruby stopped herself once more. _Is this really the best place to talk about this? In the middle of a corridor between classes. We won't be able to address this properly with only 30 seconds to talk._ "Actually, don't worry about it. See you at lunch." After saying goodbye to her partner, Ruby turned and started to walk to her next class hoping she didn't forget about another practice exam. _Just ask her at lunch, you'll have plenty of time to do it at lunch._

Finishing the last of her morning classes which thankfully did not have any practice exams, Ruby rushed to the food hall with the hope of getting a quick lunch which would leave her with ample time to talk to and finally get an answer from Weiss. Ruby quickly picked up a small bowl of noodles, sat by the nearest empty seat to her and immediately gobbled the contents of the bowl, thankful none of her teammates or other friends were around to witness that. As Ruby was just about to leave the food hall, she noticed the person she was looking for right ahead of her.

"Hey, Weiss."

"Hi, Ruby, have you voted yet?"

"Not yet, I just—"

"You might want to do that now, the queue is rather long."

"Huh? Oh I'll just do that after classes finish, it won't take much time."

"I don't know; the queue might stay as long as it is now."

"You only have to put an x in a box, Weiss, how long can that take?"

Weiss initially looked confused before a grin appeared on her face. "You've never voted in one of these elections before, have you?"

"Um..."

"You do a few more things than just putting an x in a box."

Ruby gulped knowing exactly where this was going. "Okay," the team leader sighed, "I guess I'll see you later." Ruby started sullenly walking towards the assembly hall.

Weiss' amused expression changed to one of concern. "Ruby, is everything alright?" It seemed Ruby did not hear the question as she was already halfway across the corridor and soon out of the heiress' sight.

Ruby approached her dorm tired from spending most of her lunch break standing in a queue to receive some dumb form to fill out only to then stand in another queue to get the dumb form checked and verified and only then did she actually get to join the queue to vote. If she had not have been so involved in this election she would not have bothered with all the hassle. The afternoon classes that followed did not help improve Ruby's mood, there was nothing particularly bad about them but after the rather irritating morning and lunch break she had, it would not take much to increase the stress of the young leader. Ruby was still set on getting an answer out of her partner though and felt a new burst of determination rise within her as she reached the door to her team room. Ruby opened the door to find Blake, Yang but no Weiss. The team leader's determination began to dissipate until it was as absent as her partner but she still felt inclined to ask her other teammates about it: "Hey, any idea where Weiss is?"

"Hmm?" Yang looked up from her scroll. "Oh, sorry, I haven't got any idea, sis. Do you know, Blake?"

"I don't. Sorry, Ruby."

Ruby let out a long exasperated sigh only for another idea to enter her mind. _Wait, I should be able to find her and if she's alone it'll be a little less humiliating if she rejects me._

The young leader left the team room, closing the door behind her and started to make her way towards the first possible location the heiress could be. Arriving at the assembly hall, Ruby found that there was still in fact, as her partner predicted a long queue at the voting polls. Ruby quickly made her way down the queue until she scolded her poor memory. _Weiss voted in the morning, remember?! She also said she had no plans to ask people who they voted for._ Ruby briskly walked towards the food hall only to find no sign of the heiress there either. _No, wait, where was she this morning, again?_

Finally remembering where Weiss was earlier in the day, Ruby rushed towards the library but was unable to find her partner by any of the desks or bookcases. Low on energy and running out of ideas, Ruby decided to check if Weiss was at the open field behind the academy where they had their recent talk after the party.

Reaching the open field, Ruby looked around every single spot behind the academy only to find that she was completely alone. Exhausted from the failed search, Ruby flopped onto the field, landing softly on her back then absentmindedly stared at the sky for a few seconds. Slowly getting back up, Ruby eventually returned to her team room only to find the person she was looking for sitting on her bed writing some notes.

Weiss quickly looked up from her notes to her partner who just entered the room. "Oh, hi, Ruby, I was told you were looking for me, anything you want to talk about?"

"Where were you?"

"Oh, I was at the library for a little while but then headed back here." The heiress noticed Ruby frowning at her answer before she continued. "I guess I must have been gone by the time you checked there. Anyway, what do you want to talk about?"

As tempting as it was for Ruby to say everything there and then, she's not sure if she wanted her long, irritating day further ruined with the knowledge that Weiss would never be interested in her. "Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it."

Ruby did not respond to Weiss' look of concern as she climbed up to her bed and reached for her scroll in her pocket. _Yang better have a good reason for not telling me when she got back._ Ruby pulled out her scroll to find that it had been turned off the entire time, she turned it on to find that her older sister did in fact send her a message about Weiss, half an hour ago. Ruby let out a small groan. _I'm so dumb, why do I have to be so stupid? I could have just stayed here for a few more minutes instead of randomly looking around the academy or I could have just sent Weiss a message on my scroll asking where she was! Nice job, Ruby, you realised what a normal person would do in your scenario, half an hour too late._ Ruby's self-deprecating thoughts were put on hold as she noticed a new message on her scroll from her older sister. Ruby turned to look at Yang who just nodded towards her scroll. Ruby opened the message which read:

"Are you okay? I could just leave with Blake and give you two some time alone to talk if you want?"

Ruby quickly replied to the message: "No, it's okay. I'm no longer up for it; luck just hasn't been on my side today."

Yang frowned a little before she sent her sister another message: "The circumstances may not ever be ideal but you still should ask her!"

Ruby replied one more time: "I will."

* * *

The announcement of the new Student Council President was now only a few moments away as Goodwitch stood in the middle of the stage and began addressing the large crowd of students waiting to see who won. Behind the stage curtains awaiting Goodwitch's speech to end stood the two candidates accompanied by their partners on each side of the stage. The thickness of the stage curtains separating the team from the front half of the stage and blocking nearly all light from coming through made each half of the team feel like they were alone in a pitch-black room.

Yang silently stood on one half of the stage next to her partner, staring straight ahead at the curtains. The brawler felt her heart racing and arms beginning to shiver, when did she start caring about this election so much? Yang was unable to figure out how to stop her inadvertent fidgeting as she felt one of her trembling hands brush up against Blake. Before she was given time to apologise, Yang felt her partner's hand now gently holding onto her own. Yang turned to look at Blake's face and was met by a look of pure adoration. While the brawler was able to stop her fidgeting, she was confident that if anything her heart rate had now increased; Yang beamed at her partner and laced her fingers between Blake's own as they waited for the curtains to be drawn.

While no words felt necessary for one half of Team RWBY during this moment, on the opposite side of the stage, the other half of Team RWBY were about to engage in a conversation which someone had been anticipating for over a year.

"Weiss, I really need to ask you something." Ruby kept her voice low but made sure she had enough volume to put her level of seriousness across.

"Can it wait a little while, Ruby? I'm pretty sure Goodwitch is about to finish her speech any minute now."

"It could wait, I suppose," Ruby conceded before reaffirming her stance, not wanting to repeat what happened yesterday, "No, I still want to ask you now. I've been putting this off for way too long."

Weiss turned to look at Ruby face to face. "Okay, what is it?"

Ruby took a deep breath before continuing. "Weiss, do you care about me in the same sort of way I care about you?"

The heiress bit the inside of her cheek for a moment and diverted her focus from her partner before finally answering. "Ruby, now really isn't the best time to talk about this."

"So?"

"So I think that maybe we should discuss this sometime later."

"All I want is a yes or no answer, Weiss." Ruby unintentionally raised her voice out of frustration.

"It's not as simple as that."

"Why isn't it?"

Weiss pouted realising she wasn't going to be able to find a way out of the discussion this time. "Ruby, it's just," Weiss hesitated. "When I think about the future and what could happen—"

"Then don't think about the future." Ruby interrupted.

"What?"

"If there was no future, if there wasn't anything to plan for, if there was no tomorrow, what would you say?"

"I..." Weiss bit her lower lip.

Ruby stopped hiding any of the desperation in her voice and face as she pleaded to her partner: "If all that mattered was what you say right now. Please, Weiss, I just need to know."

Weiss didn't say anything else but instead slowly raised her hand and softly placed her palm against her partner's cheek. Ruby's frustrations appeared to have evaporated as she lightly leaned her face against her partner's hand. The heiress took a couple of small steps closer to her partner, bending her back forward a little so their eyes were level. Ruby's face looked unsteady and anxious though her eyes remained fixated on the heiress's own. Weiss noticed her hand started to lightly quiver as she gazed at her partner, knowing this was her absolute last chance to back out. Her mind made up, Weiss closed her eyes and slowly traced her partner's cheek with her fingers as she pressed Ruby's lips against her own. Weiss felt Ruby push her lips forward in a vain attempt to prolong the kiss as the heiress' fingers came into contact with the warm tears slowly streaming down her partner's face. Weiss was not put off though as she now found herself lost in her partner's touch, expressing her own gratitude for Ruby's endless compassion and kindness, Weiss deepened the kiss as she felt chills travel up her spine, no longer paying attention to anything but the presence of herself and her partner and not noticing the curtain starting to open.

Ruby sensed a sudden change in the brightness of her surroundings against her eyelids but was too caught up with what she also felt on her face to process exactly what that meant. A couple of seconds later, her eyes along with Weiss' sprung open after hearing a collective gasp and a few cheers from the crowd. Breaking the kiss, Ruby's face turned a dark crimson as she looked around the assembly hall. The students sitting in the crowd appeared to be largely pleased by what they just witnessed; Weiss had also turned a bright red colour but seemed to be stuck in place staring blankly at the crowd; Goodwitch surprisingly maintained a neutral look while the other staff members in the hall had mildly amused expressions; Blake was astonished while Yang was looking on with a proud smile on her face.

After giving the crowd enough time to calm down, Goodwitch took out an envelope and addressed everyone else in the hall. "Alright, before I reveal who the next Student Council President is, I would just like to mention that this has been the biggest election in Beacon Academy history in terms of voting, regardless of who wins, both candidates should be proud of themselves." Goodwitch paused as the crowd politely applauded the students on stage who were all smiling except the heiress who still appeared to be frozen in place. Goodwitch continued after the applause ended: "Beacon Academy's new Student Council President is," Goodwitch opened the envelope. "Ms. Yang Xiao Long!"

As the crowd cheered the announcement, Yang, now feeling elated, swooped Blake up in the air with a big hug. Blake reacted by tightly wrapping her arms around her partner, sharing the pride and happiness in their success. As the two teammates celebrated, neither of them noticed their other teammates' reactions to the announcement.

Weiss slowly turned away from her teammates and started to walk off stage, trying to maintain a neutral expression and save any scraps of dignity she might have left following her defeat.

"Weiss?" Ruby quietly called to her partner walking away.

Weiss did not respond but just continued to cautiously walk off the stage then past the cheering crowd.

"Weiss, where are you going?" Ruby called out once more.

The heiress still did not respond as she neared the hall's exit. Finally leaving the room and with no one else to see her, Weiss released some of her emotional restraints as she sobbed into her hands though part of her just wanted to scream as loud as she could, she knew some students would notice and she really didn't want attention from any of them right now. Already wanting to distance herself from what just happened, Weiss proceeded to run away from the hall as fast as she could. Out of all that has happened to her in the past two years, Weiss could not think of a worse moment during her time at the academy than what she just had to experience with one obvious exception happening a few months ago.


	8. May 24th

The 2nd year exams had just ended and Team RWBY was celebrating one of the best ways they knew how: by smuggling in absurd amounts of alcohol and playing truth or dare. While the academy had a strict policy of no alcohol being present or consumed within its grounds, the staff tended to turn a blind eye to this ruling as the academy year reached its final few weeks. Team RWBY were more than ready to capitalise on this opportunity with a Faunus who grew up dependent on her stealth skills, a brawler strong enough to carry several kegs at once, an heiress to one of the wealthiest companies in all of Remnant and their leader with the Semblance of super speed, they were able to sneak enough alcohol into their team room to run their own bar.

Of course this didn't mean the alcohol was all consumed equally between the team, while all 4 students were undeniably rather drunk, the least noticeable was Blake whose only signs of intoxication were her questionable decision making, her slightly decreased reaction speed and the fact she was a lot more talkative than usual. While Yang likely consumed a few more drinks than her younger sister, she would still qualify as the 2nd most sober person in the room as her boisterousness and volume of speaking rose significantly and at times she found it difficult to keep her balance. Ruby's speech was slurred and her regular thinking capacity seemed to have reached a few speed bumps once she had a significant level of alcohol in her system. None of those three teammates could compare to the heiress though, Weiss had enough alcohol to eliminate all filters between her brain and her mouth, her voice was about twice as loud as usual, she frequently stumbled and her level of competitiveness had reached previously unprecedented heights.

"Okay!" Weiss yelled. "So whose turn is it now?"

"I believe it's my turn." Blake answered. "Truth."

"Nope." Weiss replied.

Blake's face now appeared perplexed. "What?"

"Nope. You've only picked truths the whole time; you need to do a dare."

"I don't think that's how it works, right?" Blake looked to her other teammates for support only to find them actually supporting Weiss:

"Weiss does," Ruby paused trying to remember the right words. "She does bring up... A, um, good... Point."

"Come on, Blakey!" Yang grinned at her partner. "Just one dare, it'll be fine."

The Faunus sighed. "Okay. Dare."

Weiss smirked. "I dare you to swap clothes with the person sitting next to you."

Blake quickly turned to look at her partner sitting next to her who was currently scowling at the heiress. With a huff, Yang rose to her feet using a nearby wall for support:

"Okay, let's just get this over with, right Blake?"

Blake hesitated for a second before standing up. "Sure."

Soon enough, Blake and Yang turned away from each other and began to quickly take off their clothes as Ruby and Weiss politely diverted their attention to another part of the room.

Finishing a little ahead of her partner, Yang lightly prodded her partner's back. "Er... Here you go."

Blake turned around to see her partner holding a pile of her clothes in front of her and only wearing some small fitting underwear, the Faunus spent a couple seconds ogling Yang's body before quickly shaking her head and handing her partner her clothes while grabbing her partner's own. Yang didn't seem to notice Blake staring at her; perhaps the brawler was also distracted by something though the Faunus didn't put much thought into what could've caused the distraction. Blake didn't have much trouble with putting on her partner's clothes which seemed to fit her well enough if a little loose in places. Yang had a bit more trouble but eventually seemed to start making progress when she called out to Blake:

"At least this isn't going as badly as the last time I tried a teammate's clothes on."

"What did she say?" Ruby asked still looking away.

"Nothing!" Blake saved her partner from further humiliation.

After they both successfully completed the dare, Blake and Yang took a moment to see how their partner appeared in their own clothes before silently agreeing that they actually seemed to look pretty good in them.

"Okay, we're done!" Yang called out to her other two teammates who looked back at them. "See, that wasn't so bad." Yang gently nudged Blake's shoulder making her grin then turned to the heiress. "Okay, Weiss, it's your turn: truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Yang and Blake glared at Weiss.

"Hey!" Weiss defended herself. "I—hic—have done more—hic—dares than anyone else so far, just— hic—ask me something."

"It's not a competition, Weiss." Yang retorted.

"Well if it was, I'd be winning, now just ask me something."

"Oh!" Ruby sounded ecstatic to have thought of a question to ask her partner. "Have... You ever... Cheated in any exams or assignments?"

Blake and Yang groaned at Ruby's fascinating and thought provoking question.

"Nope." Weiss answered succinctly. "I did almost—hic— fail a couple of assignments though."

"Oooh!" Ruby appeared fully satisfied with the answer she got unlike her two other teammates.

"No offence, sis, but that was not the best question you could've asked her."

"Alright, Yang," Weiss got the brawler's attention. "I—hic— believe it's your turn now: truth or dare?"

"Truth." Yang answered confidently.

Weiss smirked indicating she was probably hoping for that. "Do you have feelings—hic— for anyone here at the academy?"

Blake clenched her fists as she felt her muscles tense up, trying to not have a visible reaction to the question, she opted to grab another drink as she nervously awaited her partner's answer.

Yang stared at the floor intently for a few moments before letting out a long sigh and answering. "Yes. I do."

Blake tried to hide a small smile from appearing on her face as she sipped more of her drink.

"Who?" Weiss quickly followed up.

"Hey! One question per round." Yang asserted.

"Hmph. Alright." Weiss turned to her partner. "Ruby: truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Ruby excitedly shouted.

"Okay, I want you to—"

"Woah, hold up there, Weiss," Yang interrupted. "What if we have an idea for what we want Ruby to do for a dare?"

Weiss huffed once more. "Alright."

Blake and Yang quickly huddled together and exchanged a few whispers before Blake quickly left the room and returned with a small white bag. Blake approached Ruby and removed a couple of ice cubes from the bag then explained: "We dare you to put these two ice cubes in your bra and keep them there until they melt."

Ruby's look of enthusiasm was soon replaced by one of regret as she reluctantly took the ice cubes from Blake and carefully placed one inside each cup of her bra. "Hey, it's not actually that—Oooooeeeeeeh!" Ruby squealed causing Blake and Yang to smirk.

Weiss simply rolled her eyes before addressing the Faunus. "Okay, Blake it's—hic— your turn again: truth or dare?"

"I hope you're actually going to let me pick truth this time."

"It's only fair." Weiss now had a devious smile on her face. "I want to know, if you —hic—had to kiss any of us in—hic—this room, who would it be?"

Blake shot another glare towards the heiress; even though Weiss was absurdly drunk, she still knew how to push her teammate's buttons. Blake looked across from the smug heiress to her other two teammates; Ruby didn't seem to be paying much attention as she was still feeling the effects of her previous dare while Yang looked at her partner with an expression Blake could read even in her rather intoxicated state, while Yang was giving her a polite enough smile it was clearly used in part to cover up some of her uneasiness Blake saw in the brawler's eyes. What Blake wasn't sure of is exactly why Yang was uneasy: was she uneasy because Blake might not pick her or was she uneasy that Blake would actually pick her and it would be awkward? Blake looked down at the floor for a few seconds and weighed up her options. _I could just ask for a dare instead. No, that wouldn't work; Weiss would probably just ask me to kiss someone. Oh screw it._ "Yang." Blake finally answered.

The Faunus tried to gage her partner's reaction, Yang didn't look like she was put off but she wasn't overjoyed either, to be fair, Blake had only 2 other options, perhaps Yang just didn't think much of it. Despite Yang not having a negative reaction to the answer, a brief awkward silence lingered in the room following Blake's answer, compelling her to try and lighten the mood: "I mean she is wearing my clothes right now." Blake's extra comment got the intended reaction with Ruby lightly laughing and Yang giving her partner a small grin.

However, amidst the laughter, a realisation suddenly dawned on Blake: Weiss had her and Yang completely trapped. There was little doubt in Blake's mind that if she or Yang had to take one more truth or dare, some rather sensitive information would come out and Yang's turn was coming up just after Weiss. If Yang picked truth, we'd know who she had feelings for, Blake didn't want to know that unless it was her but what are the odds it's her? If Yang picked dare, Weiss would probably dare Yang to kiss Blake which would probably end up just as telling to Blake if Yang picked truth. The Faunus realised there was only one solution to this problem, she had to end the game before it was Yang's turn.

"Okay, Weiss," Yang resumed the game. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Blake blurted out the first ridiculous act she could think of which she knew the heiress wouldn't do even in her current state. "I dare you to do a full lap around the academy naked... With no Dust or glyphs." Blake quickly added on.

Yang smirked likely also realising that things would get awkward real fast if the game went on much longer and that her partner helped her dodge a bullet. Blake followed suit upon seeing the lack of reaction from the heiress. However, much to their surprise, they soon noticed Weiss slowly standing up and starting to take her dress off.

 _No. Oh no, what have I done? There's no way she would..._ It did not take long for the Faunus to begin regretting her decision not long after seeing the heiress stand up. Blake and Yang both gained a sudden interest in the floor they were sitting on once it became clear to them that Weiss was actually serious about going through with this.

Ruby, on the other hand, was still not paying much attention to the recent actions of the game, still focused on completing her own dare until she briefly turned to look at her partner standing up; suddenly the young leader no longer felt the coolness of the ice on her skin as her brain became incapable of processing the most basic inputs of information as Ruby was left gawking at her partner wearing nothing but a look of inebriated determination.

Before anyone could say something to stop her, the heiress promptly departed from the room leaving her other teammates sitting down in stunned silence from what they just witnessed.

Yang was the first to try to speak: "I, um, I... I—"

"I know. I screwed up." Blake exclaimed, angry with herself.

"No, no... Okay, maybe a little." Yang admitted. "But Weiss didn't need to take all those drinks and she didn't need to do it."

"This is Weiss we're talking about." Blake reiterated. "Of course she would do that with enough drinks, I think she would do anything with enough drinks, I probably should have learned that by now."

Yang sighed; Ruby remained speechless still trying to comprehend what she just saw. After a few more quiet, uncomfortable minutes passed, the teammates heard some fast footsteps approaching and were soon joined by their other teammate entering the room. Blake, Yang and Ruby deliberately turned their faces away from the door.

After quickly putting her clothes back on, Weiss addressed her teammates: "Okay, whose turn is it?"

"Um, Weiss, did anyone see you?" Yang asked apprehensively.

"Hmm, oh, maybe 2 or 3 people." Weiss answered nonchalantly. "Now whose turn is it?"

Blake and Yang looked to each other and silently nodded before getting into their beds.

"What?" Weiss looked confused.

"You win, Weiss." Yang replied. "I think it's time we all get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day."

The heiress shrugged and got into her bed as Ruby started climbing up to her own, unaware of just how accurate Yang's last statement would prove to be. What followed Weiss' night activities would involve a morning of hazy recollections between teammates, one long call to a father and a few discreet payouts to staff and witnesses to prevent news of the incident from spreading, all making the heiress' success in truth or dare a truly pyrrhic victory. The incident would from that point on only be referred to by those in the know with its date: May 24th.


	9. Resolution

Yang sat in the team room next to her partner, still positively buzzing with excitement from being announced as the new Student Council President.

"I can't believe we did it." The brawler admitted.

"You did it, Yang." Blake politely corrected. "I just helped with a few minor things here and there, you were the one who had all the main ideas and put them into practice."

"Oh, no, Blake." Yang chuckled. "You did far more than that. I'm certain I would not have had a chance to win if you weren't there to help."

"I'm sure you would have done fine."

"No, Blake." Yang repeated as she turned to her partner with a more serious look on her face. "Whether you meant to or not, you motivated me every single day, whether it was just making me want to get up earlier on the weekends to see you or just trying to prove that I could be a good leader. So please trust me when I say we were in this together."

"Yang," Blake spoke softly, "you didn't have to prove anything to me; there are so many things I really like about you already: your warm and caring nature, how you put mine and others' feelings before your own. Your puns aren't even that bad from time to time."

Yang returned her partner's broad smile before letting out a little sigh. "It's just a shame that it's all over."

"Hmm?"

"Well, I mean the election was stressful, don't get me wrong but I'm going to miss all the times we met up in the morning and it was just the two of us."

"Who says we have to stop doing that?" Blake pondered. "You said that you could do with some help if you were to become president. Well, President Yang Xiao Long, I'm here to help."

Yang laughed at hearing her new official title before further clarifying. "It's just I thought that the whole point of us having our little meetings was because we were hiding something from everyone else and I'm not sure if we have anything else to hide. I mean, just a couple days ago Ruby asked if you and I are a thing."

Blake couldn't help but smirk at her partner's nervous expression she found to be endearing. "What did you say?"

Yang paused for a few seconds and gulped, Blake started to feel a little bad for smirking after seeing her partner get so anxious like this when it came to their relationship. "I didn't say anything; I didn't want to label us as anything you're not comfortable with since I-I mean, I'm not en-entirely sure w-what we are." Yang stammered the last few words of her explanation out.

Blake beamed at Yang for her answer; even if the brawler's cautious act was going a bit overboard, her thoughtfulness was not lost on the Faunus. Blake took a moment to figure out how to show her affection to her partner: "Yang, do you remember May 24th?"

"Yes." Yang sounded perplexed.

"Do you remember a certain question someone asked me?"

Yang maintained her anxious appearance and eventually answered: "Well, um, one question I remember is that you were asked if you had to kiss someone who wou—"

Blake prevented Yang from finishing her answer by quickly closing the gap between her lips and her partner's own then tightly wrapped her arms around Yang's neck as she passionately explored the brawler's mouth, running a hand through the smooth blonde locks of hair. Yang returned the kiss in kind, finding Blake's waist and pulling her closer while gently caressing the curves of her partner's body. Blake felt goose bumps wherever Yang's hand touched on her body and started to explore her partner's own as she let her hands travel down from Yang's hair to the brawler's firm shoulders and the rest of her body's contours. The partners continued their embrace for a few more moments releasing their stress and expressing their desire for one another until they finally broke the kiss.

Blake was the first to speak: "Do you want to go out for dinner somewhere in Vale this evening after your council meeting?"

"Sure." Yang enthusiastically replied. "So we're officially dating now?"

"Yes, Yang." Blake replied with a deadpan expression for a few seconds before she grinned. "I was waiting for you to ask me out for long enough, I eventually decided to do it myself."

"I was planning on asking you, I guess I was just having so much fun flirting with you, I kind of forgot to ever bring it up."

"I enjoyed it too; I suppose I just wanted more than just flirting, I wanted to be able to call you my girlfriend."

"Well, Blake, my girlfriend," Yang's face took on a mischievous look as she slowly brought herself closer to her partner. "There's much more I plan to do than just flirt." The partners kissed once more, both perfectly content with where they were at in that moment.

* * *

After seeing her partner flee from the assembly hall, Ruby finally managed to track down Weiss quietly crying alone in the same open field behind the academy where most their serious talks seemed to have occurred recently.

"Weiss?" Ruby quietly got her partner's attention as she slowly walked up to her.

"I'm a failure, okay!" Weiss shouted back. "I've been planning on becoming Student Council President since I joined Beacon and I failed." The heiress buried her face back in her hands and started digging her nails into her skin, loathing herself.

"Weiss, you're not a failure." Ruby tried to reassure her partner. "You're not defined by just one outcome not going your way."

"No, Ruby. Every single time I plan something out, I always find a way to screw it up. Not just Beacon, everything."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"Well, I can't think of any time where I didn't ruin things for myself."

Ruby scrunched her face slightly trying to think of another way to help. "Weiss, I know things don't always go to plan but sometimes that doesn't always have to be a bad thing, sometimes a lot of good might actually come out of it and you've done plenty of awesome things for me, the team and a bunch of other people here without needing to prepare for any of it. Sometimes it's better to not plan things so much and just go with what you think is right at the moment."

"If I wasn't a failure, I would have had at least one thing I planned turn out right, just for once." Weiss resumed her quiet sobbing into her hands.

Ruby was not sure how much more she could take before she would begin to cry herself. "Weiss, I—"

"I'm sorry, Ruby." The heiress interrupted. "I think I just need a bit of time alone right now."

Ruby wistfully looked upon her crying partner for a few more seconds, she hated leaving Weiss like this but she knew that Weiss would only be willing to talk about this kind of stuff when she was ready. Ruby reluctantly turned around and started walking back to her dorm.

Weiss continued to weep for a little longer as her mind was flooded with cruel thoughts further disparaging herself. The heiress feeling as worthless as ever considered just how long she could just stay sitting where she was or if anyone would even care where she was when a new thought suddenly entered her mind. _You're just ruining something again by asking her to leave. She's been with you all along through this and you don't realise how lucky you are so you're now going to let her go because of some dumb election not going your way?! This dumb election that has caused you nothing but stress. Are you crazy?!_

Weiss quickly wiped her eyes and stood up and began running after her partner on the other end of the field loudly calling out to her: "Ruby! Wait!"

Ruby stopped walking and turned around with a look of surprise upon seeing her partner running after her.

Weiss continued to run the rest of the way despite Ruby clearly noticing her, leaving her a bit out of breath by the time she finally caught up to her. "One more thing." Weiss took a few heavy breaths before continuing. "I heard that this new fancy restaurant opened up in Vale, well, okay it's about a month old but I was wondering that maybe if you don't have anything planned tomorrow evening..."

Ruby's level of surprise appeared to increase after hearing her partner's words but she quickly frowned giving the heiress a little heartache. "Weiss, I," Ruby sighed. "You know how I feel, I just need to know if you're doing this for the same reason; I don't want you to do it just because you feel sorry for me or you feel like you owe me one."

Weiss took a few seconds to completely catch her breath then lightly grabbed Ruby's hands in her own and gave her partner a short, tender kiss. "Ruby, I'm not doing this because I think I owe you something, I'm doing it because I owe it to myself. I've had feelings for you for as long as I can remember being at Beacon. I just never mentioned it because I didn't know how to plan for that kind of thing in the future and I was worried about what might happen if things didn't work out but like you just said, sometimes it's better to not plan for too many things. I... I was obsessed with that election but now that it's over I think I can finally see what I should really care about like my friends, my team and the sweetest, most loyal person I've ever met. So, do you want to go out with me tomorrow night?"

Ruby wasn't sure if she wanted to run around the academy and excitedly proclaim to everyone that she and Weiss were now dating or if she just wanted to quietly cry tears of joy, she eventually settled for smiling back and saying: "I'd love to."

The new couple took their time walking back to the dorm enjoying the pleasant weather and quiet atmosphere outside. As they neared the dorm building, Ruby spoke up once more:

"Weiss, you'll never be a failure to me." The young leader stated in a hushed but serious tone as she looked at her partner earnestly.

"I guess if someone like you cares about me I can't be too bad." Weiss conceded as they finally entered inside the dorm and walked up to their team room. Weiss opened the door to find her two other teammates casually chatting to one another.

As a familiar awkward atmosphere entered the room once more, Yang's rather cheerful expression was quickly replaced by one of concern as she turned to see Weiss whose face clearly signalled to the brawler that she had just been crying. Yang silently stood up then approached the front of the room and extended an open hand to the heiress.

Appearing to be on the precipice of breaking down into tears once more, Weiss quickly shook her head and slapped Yang's hand aside before pulling her into a big hug.

"I'm so sorry for everything!" Weiss cried out.

Yang was slightly taken aback by Weiss' reaction but soon smiled and wrapped her arms around her friend then replied: "It's okay, I'm sorry too. I should have been more straightforward with you about how I felt you were acting and instead I acted selfishly and let this whole thing go to my head for way too long."

Blake soon joined the hug and Ruby eagerly followed suit as each of their partners finally began to look past the other's wrongdoings. All four members of Team RWBY held onto each other tightly for a few more moments, happy to feel like a closely-knit team again.

As the hug reached its end, Blake turned to look at the heiress: "I owe you an apology too, Weiss, I told Yang to just try to ignore how you were acting, when I should've told her to keep talking to you then I joined Yang's side after rejecting the offer to help you." Blake started looking at the floor feeling further ashamed with her recent actions. "Like you said at the party, I wasn't being fair to you. If anyone is responsible for this whole mess, it's me."

"Don't worry about it, Blake; I don't blame you at all actually." Weiss turned to look at both Blake and Yang. "I don't blame either of you for what you did, you were both right, I was being unbearable and I let this whole president thing go to my head. Honestly, now that I really think about it, I'm actually kind of thankful that all this happened. I don't know what I would be like right now if I just became Student Council President after I signed up."

"That still doesn't mean we should have treated you that way, Weiss. I think—"

"Okay!" Ruby interrupted her older sister. "We were all somewhat in the wrong and we're all sorry for it. Can we just all hug one more time and move on?"

Ruby's slightly irritated tone in her voice earned some small grins from the rest of her team who eventually complied with their leader's request and all hugged together once more.


End file.
